Strangers and Strange Lands
by MattII
Summary: The continued adventures of Alex and his friends. rated T for minor suggestiveness. Implied VitaniAlex and verbal only MelmanOC and MartyOC.
1. Old friends

I don't own any of the characters.

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Alex was in a thoughtful state of mind as he returned to his friends. Vitani's confession, if such it could be called had been completely unexpected and left him with a lot to think about. His friends were still asleep when he reached them, but with the sun burning the sky red, he knew it wouldn't be long before they woke up.

Marty was the first of the three to wake, yawning sleepily and looking round, then spotting Alex, "oh, m'rnin' 'lex."

"Morning Marty," Alex replied.

Something in Alex' tone told Marty that all wasn't well with his best friend. Looking around for clues to his friend's odd attitude, he didn't see something he should have, "where's Vitani?"

"Left this morning," Alex replied, "gave me, well, admittedly a tearful goodbye, then left."

"Vitani, tearful," Marty asked, "doesn't sound like her at all."

"Well she was this morning," Alex said. He paused for a moment to consider his options, before deciding to admit it, "she said she loved me."

"She..." Marty managed, before tailing off. A moment later he whistled, "got it right then didn't you?"

"Yeah," Alex said. He paused for a moment, before going on, "problem is I don't know if I love her back."

"Oh come on," Marty said, "you've got to know if you love her or not."

"I really don't," Alex said, "I mean, I kinda like her, she's pretty nice if you catch her in a good mood, but love?"

Before, Marty could reply, Melman asked sleepily, "mm, wha's going on there?"

"Ah, nothing much," Alex replied.

"Could you keep it down a bit then," Melman asked.

"Sure thing Mel'," Marty said, then jerked his head, indicating to Alex to move them away from the others. Once they were away, he turned to the lion, and said, "how can you not know if you love her?"

"I really don't okay," Alex said, "she just hit me with it like that, so I need a few days to sort of, you know, sort it out."

Marty still wasn't happy with the answer, but pressing Alex wouldn't help so he shrugged, and said, "okay gotcha."

"Good," Alex said, "now come on, the others are probably wondering where we are."

"So what're you going to do today then," Marty asked as he and Alex made their way back to the others.

"I'm...," Alex began, then thought about it, "you know, I've actually got no idea there, what about you?"

"Well I'd be out exploring," Marty replied, "except it's too dangerous with all the other predators around."

Alex raised an eyebrow at the statement, sure it 'sounded' innocuous, but there might have been something deeper there as well, "well what if you had a predator buddy of your own out there with you?"

"Was that an offer," Marty asked, confirming Alex's suspicions that the zebra was looking for attention.

Not that Alex could fault Marty either, he realised, after all, he might have needed to learn how to feed himself, but it also kept him away from his friends a lot, "yeah, that was an offer."

"Oh there you are," Melman replied when Alex and Marty returned, "where were you guys?"

"Nowhere much," Marty replied, "just having a little chat, you know, just hanging out."

"Really," Melman asked. This sounded 'slightly' suspicious, at least to him, so he looked around, "where's Vitani?"

"Left this morning," Alex replied, "went home."

"Really," Melman asked, "I mena, certainly I was expecting it, but it seems a bit, sudden."

"Apparently it was quite emotional," Marty said.

"Ah," Melman said, "Vitani never seemed particularly good with her emotions, at least as far as I saw."

"She wasn't," Alex said.

"So what are you going to do today then," Melman asked.

"Alex agreed to come exploring with me," Marty replied, "how about you?"

Melman shrugged, or at least tried to, and replied, "might come with you, might see what Gloria's up to."

"Mm, wha'sat," Gloria asked sleepily, "someone call me?"

"Sort of," Marty said, "what you doing today?"

"Uh, wha'" Gloria said, then yawned, "sorry, what was that?"

"What are you going to be doing today," Marty asked again.

"We just sit around here normally don't we," Gloria asked, "what's changed?"

"Vitani's gone home," Marty replied, "left this morning."

"Without saying goodbye," Gloria asked.

"She said goodbye to Alex Marty replied, just not the rest of us."

"Typical," Gloria muttered, then asked, "so what's everyone else doing today then?"

"Alex and I are going to explore the area," Marty replied, "Melman might come with us or might not, so what about you?"

Gloria seemed to think for a few moments, then asked "another spot open for exploring?"

"Sure," Marty replied, "why, getting bored around here?"

"You bet," Gloria replied, "at least back at Central Park I had something to do." She was about to say something else, when she caught Melman's raised eyebrow, "what?"

"I was just thinking," Melman replied, "that's pretty much the same thing Vitani said when she 'was' at Central Park Zoo."

"And what's that supposed to mean," Gloria demanded.

"Nothing," Melman replied, "simply an observation."

"Really, well, stop observing" Gloria said, "besides, she was always moody and cranky."

"Yeah, just on that," Alex said, pausing a moment when he got the other's attention, "she sort of wanted me to apologise to you for that."

"So she wasn't brave enough to come and do it herself," Gloria asked, "mind you, I'm frankly surprised she got down off her pedestal long enough to think about it."

"Glo..." Marty said warningly.

"Yeah, I know," Gloria sighed, "but there was something utterly unlovable about her."

"Well, maybe," Melman said, "but that's over now, at least for the moment, and there are bigger things to deal with, like figuring out what we're going to do today."

"You're right," Gloria said, "that's over now, there more important things to worry about."

"So when are we starting," Marty asked.

"Why not right now," Melman asked.

"Why not indeed," Marty asked.

"Hang on a mo'," Alex said, "I'll just go grab breakfast if there's anything left."

"Sure thing buddy," Marty said.

Alex wasn't long, and when he returned to the others, he asked, "so which way are we going to go?"

"I hadn't actually thought about that," Marty replied, "I just figured any one that didn't lead us back to where we were in the crates."

"How about following the river," Melman asked, "I mean, I know it's not the most inspired idea, but it will keep us from getting too lost."

"Yeah, and I can have a swim when I want," Gloria said, "good idea Mel'."

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	2. First meeting

I don't own any of the characters apart from Amili (Swahili for 'guide') and Najiri (Swahili for 'emigrate').

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"Father, please," Amili said, "I'm old enough to look after myself."

"Perhaps you think so child," Najiri replied, "but if your mother can disappear, so can you, so we must be careful."

"And that's why we're out her all alone is it," Amili asked. She knew even before she said it that it was the wrong thing to say, but she couldn't help herself. She stood still for a moment, watching her father's expression glaze, before turning and taking off. Her father would calm down later she knew, but for now it would be in both their best interests for her to be out of his way.

Even as he fought to control his anger, Najiri knew Amili was right, it wasn't good for them to be away from the herd for too long, but they had been, for almost nine years now. He hadn't intended it to be nearly that long, just a couple of moons till he could come to terms with his mate's disappearance, but those few moons stretched into more moons, and before he knew it, almost a year had gone by.

Najiri might have rejoined the herd then, but by the time he was ready to he was used to the solitude, to the peacefulness of not being in a herd, and, admittedly, he was also a little scared, not so much for himself, but for Amili, what would happen to her if he wasn't able to keep an eye on her. At least, that's what he told himself.

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Amili wasn't sure how far she'd gone when she finally stopped to think. Looking around, she found herself near the river, but was surprised to see the other giraffe, because this place had been almost deserted till now. The mystery only deepened when she saw the other giraffe appeared to be talking to someone, but she couldn't figure out who.

After a few moments, the other giraffe finally noticed Amili and began to make its way over. As it, he, came closer she spotted his companions, first a hippo, which was odd, then a zebra, which was only slightly less so, and finally, shockingly, a lion.

Melman examined the other giraffe as he and his friends approached, and wondered how he managed to miss seeing it till Marty pointed it out to him. He watched it as they approached, and noted, as they got closer, the frown, then the sudden shock, and guessed what had happened. "Guys," he said, "I think it's a bit worried, so could I go and talk to it alone?"

"Sure thing," Marty replied. After a moment the others agreed, so Melman stepped forward to talk to the other giraffe.

Amili was in shock as the other giraffe stepped forward, and so didn't react until he nudged her, and she gasped, "wh-who are you?"

"My name's Melman," He replied, "are you okay?"

"Y-yes," Amili replied, "it's just..." nodding at the other three when words wouldn't come.

"Yes, we get that reaction quite often," Melman replied, "but don't worry, they're all pretty friendly."

"Pretty..." Amili began before pausing, "...even the lion?"

"Yes, even the lion," Melman replied, "I've known him the majority of my life, and he's usually quite peaceful, except when he's angry."

"Oh," Amili said, struggling to take it all in, "how, how did you, them..."

"It's a long story," Melman replied, "but how about you, why are you out here alone?"

Amili didn't reply for a few moments, bowing her head slightly, "my father was getting, difficult."

"Oh," Melman said, "I'm sorry to hear that."

"And he's herd leader too," Amili said, apparently not hearing him, "except that we're a herd of two."

This surprised Melman enough to interrupt her, nudging her and asking, "it's just you and your father?"

"Hm," Amili said when Melman nudged her, "sorry, I didn't catch you."

"Is it really just you and your father," Melman asked, then saw her frown, "sorry, it's just that you said..."

"Yeah, I know," Amili said, "sorry about that, yes it is just father and I now."

"What happened," Melman asked, "surely there's nothing that could remove most of a herd."

"Most of a..." Amili asked before realising what Melman was asking, "Oh no, nothing like that, iot's just, after my mother disappeared, he changed."

"Oh," Melman said, "I'm sorry to hear about your mother's death."

"Death," Amili asked, "no, she's not dead, maybe not anyway, she just disappeared one day, we haven't seen her since."

"So now it's just you and your father," Melman asked, "isn't that kind of dangerous?"

"You bet it is," Amili replied, then sighed, "but father hasn't been big on companionship since mother disappeared."

"And what about you," Melman asked, "what do you want?"

"I, don't really know," Amili replied, "I mean, it can get lonely sometimes, but I've learned to cope with it."

"Ah, okay," Melman said, slightly disappointed.

Amili noted Melman's disappointment, and was confused for a moment, then figured it out, "so how did you, four, come to be together?"

"It's a long story," Melman replied.

"I know, you said," Amili said, "but right now I'm in the mood for long stories."

"So you didn't mind me," Melman asked, surprised, "I thought you said you were okay with being alone?"

"Most of the time I am," Amili replied, "but that more-or-less means I'll take any social opportunities I can get, maybe even with lions involved."

"Hey, he really is friendly," Melman said, slightly defensively.

"Yes, you said," Amili said, "sorry, just a bit of residual caution."

"So, you wouldn't mind meeting them," Melman asked.

"Lead on," Amili said. She smiled lopsidedly and chuffed, it was a welcome break from the usual monotony, but what had she gotten herself in for?

"Hey, Melman," Marty said, when the giraffe returned, "I see you've got a new friend."

"I have indeed," Melman said, "this is, er..." He turned to her, "come to think of it, you never told me your name."

"It's Amili," she replied, "I know probably the most exciting name in history, but still..."

"Okay," Melman said, "this is Amili," He then pointed out his three friends and said, "and these are Gloria, Marty and Alex."

"Pleased to meet you all," Amili said.

"Hey, welcome to the group," Marty replied.

Amili raised an eyebrow at Melman who replied, "well, Marty can be a bit outgoing sometimes, but he means well, they all do."

"Indeed," Amili said, "and now maybe you could tell me how you all came to be together?"

"It's a long story," Gloria said.

"I know," Amili replied, "Melman said twice, but I have plenty of time."

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	3. Meet the parent

I don't own any of the characters apart from Amili (Swahili for 'guide') and Najiri (Swahili for 'emigrate').

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Amili was thoroughly enjoying the presence of Melman and his friends, they were a welcome interlude in what had been a very boring part of her life. At least, she'd originally intended her meeting with the four odd friends to be an interlude, but as the day dragged on, she found herself wishing more and more that they would be rather more than such, though she knew her father would never agree.

Thoughts of her father suddenly caused a rise of guilt in Amili as she realised he was probably worried about her, so she waited for a natural break in the joking, and said, "well, it's been great meeting you all, but I have to go now, my father is probably worried sick about me."

"This being the same father who kept you isolated from your own kind," Gloria asked.

"Well, yes," Amili admitted, "but he is my father."

"Good luck then," Melman said, "and maybe we'll se you again tomorrow?"

"Maybe indeed," Amili said, and smiled at him before turning and walking away.

"Got yourself a good one there Mel'," Marty said, "smart and funny, if a bit boring."

"Yeah," Melman said, not really listening, instead following Amili's retreating form with his eyes.

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It took Amili longer than she expected to find her father, but when she did, she approached him, and said "I'm back father."

Najiri turned at the voice, and smiled, "Amili, I was beginning to worry."

"I know," Amili said, "I, I'm sorry for being away so long."

"Oh that's all right as long as you're safe," Najiri replied, "and it got me thinking for once."

"Did it," Amili asked, "what about?" She knew exactly what was coming, but it was better to let him say it.

"About us," Najiri said, "I think maybe it's time we returned to a herd."

Yep, Amili thought, she'd heard this one before, and nothing ever got done, but now there was a chance to do something about it. "Actually," she said, deciding to hit her father with everything at once, "the reason I was out so long I because I was with a small group, although I suppose you could call it a herd."

"A group," Najiri asked, wondering at the 'you could call it a herd', "what sort of group?"

"Well, they're all misfits," Amili replied, "but in a good way, they've just had an unusual upbringing."

"Indeed," Najiri said, "and so you could perhaps furnish me with a few more details."

"It's, a little complex to explain," Amili said, "so perhaps we could go and see them tomorrow?"

"Perhaps," Najiri said. He knew Amili was keeping something from him, but he also knew pressing her wouldn't do any good, so he added, "if they're still there."

"I left them down at the river," Amili said, "so they shouldn't have gone too far."

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"So exactly how many are in this group," Najiri asked, as Amili led him back to where she'd left the group the previous afternoon.

"Just four," Amili replied, "not that many."

"And when you say they're misfits..." Najiri said, letting the question hang.

"They're not all giraffes," Najiri replied, "I mena, there is a giraffe among them, but only one."

"Only one giraffe in a group of four creatures," Najiri asked, "misfits indeed."

"But friendly ones," Amili said, "they didn't do me any harm."

"Indeed," Najiri said, closing off the conversation.

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"Hey," Marty said, interupting their conversation and pointing, "Is that a giraffe?"

"Possibly," Melmam said, then concentrated, "no, it actually looks like two giraffes."

"Two giraffes," Gloria asked.

"Yes, two," Melman replied, "and you know what, I think one of them is Amili."

"Wouldn't that make the other one her father then," Marty asked.

"Probably," Melman replied absentmindedly, watching the two giraffe's get closer, "yes, I'm sure it's Amili, I recognise the gait."

"You watch how others walk," Gloria asked, surprised, "Melman, I didn't think you had it in you."

"Hey nothing wrong with being interested in someone else," Marty said, "especially if they happen to be the opposite gender and the same species."

"Yeah, but Melman," Gloria asked, "I mean, he's..."

"Everyone has to let their hair down sometimes," Alex said.

"Yep," Marty said, "although in your case buddy down isn't the only direction."

"That's true," Alex said, "up and out to the sides are in there somewhere as well."

Melman had been ignoring his friends since he first caught sight of the other two giraffes. One had stopped still some distance away, but the other one continued forward, even closer. Nor was Amili, as she turned out to be, the only one moving, quite without being aware of it, he himself had begun to move forward. When the two giraffes finally met, he said, "good morning Amili."

"Good morning Melman," Amili replied.

"I see you brought your father this time," Melman said.

"I did," Amili replied, "although I have to warn you, he can be quite, conservative, at times, so this probably isn't going to go as well as I'd like it to."

"Well, we can but hope," Melman said, so how do you want to do this, meet everyone at once, or leave meeting the others till a bit later."

"I think we can leave meeting the others till we've had a few words," Amili replied, "it'll probably work out better."

"Then what are we waiting for," Melman asked.

Melman tried to appear confident, but Amili could tell it was a bluff, that he was actually quite nervous. Not that she was feeling any better, she just hoped her father could accept him, and eventually the others as well. When the three of them were finally together, "she said, "father, this is Melman." The older male made no more response than a curt nod, so she went on, "Melman, this is my father, Najiri."

"Pleased to meet you," Melman said, smiling nervously, though it quickly drained in the face of Najiri's frown. Glancing at Amili, he said, "er..."

"Those are your friends are they," Najiri asked Melman, seeing even from this a grey shape that might have been a hippo, or maybe a rhino.

"That's right," Melman replied nervously, "I mean, I know they're probably not what you'd expect, but they're nice." He gulped nervously when his comments didn't seem to have any effect on Najiri, who seemed to get more threatening by the moment as the silence unrolled.

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	4. Najiri's dilemma

I don't own any of the characters apart from Amili (Swahili for 'guide') and Najiri (Swahili for 'emigrate').

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Marty Gloria and Alex waited expectantly as they saw the three giraffes begin to approach, wondering what was in store. The hippo had got a bit anxious when she saw Melman leave with Amili, and it had taken both of the others to calm her down, but now there was no calm in any of them, just tenseness.

Melman was leading the other two giraffes as they approached, and his drawn appearance didn't do anything to reinsure his friends. Amili and her father finally stopped about thirty paces from the other group, and seemed to be waiting expectantly. There was a quick, silent discussion between the two younger giraffes, before he finally said, "well guys, this is Najiri."

This didn't seem to do anything, because while Marty said, somewhat lacklustre, "pleased to meet you," and Alex at least nodded and smiled half-heartedly, Gloria immediately gave Najiri a stern look, which the older giraffe returned.

Melman and Amili had another silent discussion, then the female said, "father, I'd like to to meet Gloria, Alex and Marty."

"Charmed," Najiri said, though he obviously wasn't, and indeed followed the statement with a quick, almost mocking smile.

In light of this Melman and Amili quickly agreed, and moved off to the side, giving the other four time to get acquainted. "What d'you think of the chances so far," he asked.

"A little better than I expected," Amili replied, "not much, but a little."

"So is there anything we could do," Melman asked, "you know, to speed it up?"

"Not much," Amili said, "although Gloria isn't helping."

"She likes to be in control," Melman said, "Although I get the feeling it's the same with your father."

"You can say that again," Amili admitted, "still it could be worse, at least he's still there."

"So you think he'll warm up to them," Melman asked.

"Probably," Amili replied, "although I might just go and have a word with him now."

"And I'll do the same for Gloria," Melman said, "good luck."

"Likewise," Amili replied. She approached Najiri, and said, "father."

"Amili," Najiri replied, finally looking away from Gloria.

"Can I have a word with you," Amili asked, "in private?"

"Certainly," Najiri replied, "now?"

"That would help, yes," Amili said, leading him away from the others. Once she'd lead her father a good distance from the others, she asked, "so what did you think of them?"

"I have to admit, they're different," Najiri replied, "certainly I'd never have thought a lion and a zebra could be much more than predator and prey, or king and subject at any rate."

"So you don't think they'd be too bad as companions," Amili asked hopefully.

"I'm less than certain about that," Najiri replied, "I'll have to know more about them."

"Well I'm sure that can be arranged," Amili replied, smiling, "they certainly don't seem to be ashamed of their, well, quite frankly, rather unusual upbringing, in fact, they're quite open about it, or at least they were with me."

"Indeed," Najiri said, "which would lead you to suggest that they would be similarly open with me?"

"I'm quite sure they would be," Amili replied, "you'd have to ask though."

"Yes," Najiri said suddenly seeming nervous, "yes indeed."

"Is, there a problem father," Amili asked, surprised at Najiri's sudden change in temperament.

Najiri considered denying it for a few moments, but decided against it, and so, closing his eyes, said, "yes there is, one that's been with me for a long time."

Amili was going to ask what the problem was, but quickly guessed, "you're nervous about socialising."

Najiri opened his eyes in surprise, and looked at his daughter, "you knew?"

"I wasn't really that hard to guess," Amili replied with a smile, "you always got a bit tense whenever we were even within sight range of a herd."

"It was that obvious," Najiri asked, suddenly embarrassed.

"It was to me," Amili replied, "but you know, sometimes the best way to deal with a problem is to first admit it."

"I don't see how that would help me here," Najiri replied.

"And nor do I admittedly," Amili replied, "but if you like, I'll do the talking."

"I would be, most obliged," Najiri replied, "especially how I've treated you in the past."

"Well I'm sure you can make it up to me somehow," Amili replied, "now, are you ready to properly meet our new friends?"

Najiri took a few deep breaths, before replying, "yes, yes I am."

"Good," Amili said, "then let's go."

"You're back," Marty said, when Amili and Najiri returned, this time to within ten paces.

"Yes," Amili said, "and father would like to apologise for his previous behaviour, since my mother went missing he's been more cautious and less trusting." She paused a moment, before going on, "he would however be quite interested in, learning, how the four of you came to be companions."

"Would he now," Marty asked, then looked around at the others, "well I'm sure we can do that."

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"Well it's certainly one of the most, interesting, stories I've ever heard," Najiri said when they'd finally finished, "and as unbelievable as it sounds, it's actually believable."

"I don't quite follow," Gloria said, "would you care to explain it a bit deeper?"

"Certainly," Najiri replied, "the tale is either the largest falsehood..." The sudden uproar drowned him out until he said loudly, "please, may I continue?"

"Go ahead," Gloria replied after a few moments, "but you'd better have a good reason for accusing us of lying."

"I didn't actually accuse you," Najiri said, "but as I was saying, the tale is either a very large falsehood, or it's true."

"So how would you describe it," Gloria asked, clearly angry, "a lie or the truth?"

"The truth," Najiri replied, "it simply has too much consistency to be a plausible falsehood."

"I don't think I understood," Marty said, "could you explain it again?"

"Very well," Najiri said, "the truth is easy to remember, we hear and see it, we experience it if you will."

"Okay," Marty said, "and a lie is different, how?"

"A lie is simply a creation of the imagination," Najiri replied, "a complex lie, unless well thought out, will have a significant number of inconsistencies, and your tale didn't have any, or at least any where near enough to be regarded as a lie."

"So you're saying it's believable because we all agree on it," Gloria asked.

"Quite frankly, yes," Najiri replied, "of course, different individuals have different opinions on certain issues, which you had, but I didn't detect any real disagreements on the bigger issues." He thought for a moment before adding, "and of course, the fact that you disagreed over minor factors was another indicator of truth."

"And that works how," Marty asked.

"If it was a lie it would have some gaping inconsistencies," Najiri replied, "but you would also have all been in more agreement about the smaller issues."

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	5. Journey ahead

I don't own any of the characters apart from Amili (Swahili for 'guide') and Najiri (Swahili for 'emigrate').

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"Hey Alex buddy," Marty said, approaching the lion. Several days had passed since Amili and Najiri had joined the group, and had fitted in almost seamlessly. Unfortunately, for everything gained, and for the group that thing had been Alex. This dismayed the zebra a little, he hadn't had any time with his friend the lion since Vitani had left, and now he was on his own again, and this time without even a companion.

"Oh, hey Marty," Alex replied, lacklustre, "what d'you want?"

"I want my old friend back," Marty replied, "the one who loved life, you know what happened to him?"

Alex sighed, then replied, "he fell in love, then his love ran off."

"You finally fell for her then," Marty asked, a smile momentarily replacing his worried frown, "why not go after her then?"

"I would," Alex replied, "but what about you guys, would you come with me, because a bunch of friends here is a better deal than a lioness a long way off."

"Alex buddy," Marty said, "I'm kind of offended you even have to asked whether I'd come with you, of course I would."

"Yeah, you okay," Alex said, "but what about the others, I mean Gloria hates her, and what if Amili and whatshisname want to stay here?"

"Najiri," Marty asked, then when Alex nodded, went on, "why not ask then?"

"It's going to look pushy though isn't it," Alex asked, "like I'm thinking of me instead of everybody else."

"Then I'll ask," Marty said, turning, "be back soon."

"Hey," Alex called after the retreating zebra, "stop right there will ya?"

"Something else wrong buddy," Marty asked.

"Look, don't bother asking," Alex said, "it'll probably be a waste of time."

"Alex, I'm going to ask," Marty replied, "you can't stop me."

"I already told you not to bother," Alex replied, "don't put yourself in that sort of trouble for me."

"What makes you think I'm doing for you," Marty asked, "I'm doing it for me because I can't stand seeing you like this, okay?" When Alex said nothing, he continued on towards the others. "Hey guys,"

"Guys," Alimi asked, glancing at Gloria, "who's he calling 'guys'?"

"Yeah, okay," Marty said, as both Amili and Gloria broke out laughing, "guys and girls." Actually, he was surprised at this, the hippo was usually more cautious about relationships than him or Alex, except where tiny furry animals were concerned, so it fairly amazing she'd taken Najiri's daughter like a sister, which the giraffe seemed to reciprocate. Still, maybe it was just that they were both females.

"Morning Marty," Melman said, "where've you been?"

"Talking to Alex," Marty replied.

"How is he," Melman asked. In truth, he'd noticed Alex' problem as well, but spending so much time with Amili and Najiri left him little to concern himself with the lion.

"Depressed," Marty replied, "relationship issues."

"Relationship issues," Melman asked, "so he finally decided he wants to follow her?"

"Yeah," Marty said, "but he didn't want to disturb us."

"I should think not," Gloria said, "that dirty, no good..."

"Shut it Glo'," Marty replied, suddenly angry, "stop thinking about yourself for a moment and start thinking about someone else." This outburst was so different from his normal laid-back attitude, that she did stop talking."

"Let me see if I understand this," Najiri said, breaking the silence of a few moments, "you friend Alex recently decided that he did love a lioness who took off for distant parts a few days ago, and now he wants to go after her?"

"That's right," Marty replied, unable to tell what, if anything, Najiri was implying.

"Does he know where she's gone," Najiri asked, "which direction?"

"South-East I think," Marty replied, "some place called the Pridelands, I don't suppose you've ever head of them."

"I most certainly have," Najiri replied, "I was born in those lands."

"You know where they are," Marty asked, surprised.

"I do," Najiri replied, then seemed thoughtful for a few moments, "tell me, did you ever meet a hornbill called Zazu recently?"

"He left with Vitani," Melman replied, "you know him?"

"He's an old friend," Najiri replied, a thin smile appearing on his face, "and if it's the Pridelands we're headed for, I told him at our last meeting that I might return someday, and that someday seems to have come sooner rather than later."

Taking this as measure of compliance to the journey, Marty turned to the others and asked, "what about you three?"

"One place is as good as another," Amili replied, "and a journey is usually interesting."

'Four for, none against,' Marty thought as he asked, "Melman, Gloria?"

"There's nothing here for us," Melman replied "and if it helps a friend, I ready."

Gloria didn't reply for a few moments, but just as Marty was about to ask again, said, "it doesn't look like I have much of a choice, do I?"

"You can stay behind if you like," Marty replied, still annoyed at her apparently selfish attitude.

Gloria was only surprised this time, rather than shocked, but it still took her a few moments to reply, "okay, I'll come."

"Good," Marty said, "I'd better go and let Alex know."

"Just before you do," Najiri said, "you'd better tell him to have a meal before he leaves, a big one if he can."

"Really," Marty asked.

"It would be advisable," Najiri replied.

"I'll tell him that then," Marty said, "thanks." The zebra was grinning as he approached Alex, "hey Al'."

"Hey Marty," Alex replied, then looked at him, "what're you grinning for?"

"I just asked the others about coming," Marty replied.

"I thought I told you not to bother," Alex said.

"And I told you I was doing it for me," Marty said, "and you know what, everyone's willing to go."

"Everyone," Alex asked.

"Everyone," Marty replied, "although Gloria isn't too happy about getting closer to Vitani, mind you, those two never have gotten on."

"Yeah," Alex said, then grinned, "you're not joking though are you, everyone's ready to go?"

"They are," Marty replied, smiling himself at the grin on Alex' face, this was more like the lion he knew, "oh, and Najiri said you ought have a big meal the night before, then we'll leave the next morning."

"Why's that," Alex asked.

"Actually, I never asked," Marty replied, "might be a good idea to have a talk to him yourself."

"Yeah, I'll do that," Alex said, rising, "thanks Marty."

"Anytime buddy," Marty replied.

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	6. Truth will out

I don't own any of the characters apart from Majana (Swahili for 'daughter') and Kanuni (Swahili for 'rule').

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Nala frowned as she made her way down to the gorge, or rather, the pile of rocks near its beginning. It wasn't an area she visited regularly, it was too far from Pride Rock to be a popular hunting ground, and was far from the lushest pasture in the Pridelands, useful only for those that wanted to stay out of the way.

Nala's reason for coming here wasn't for hunting though, it was for Vitani. The lioness had been spending more and more time out here recently, and less and less time at Pride Rock, and that was worrying the rest of the pride, though she'd refused to talk to any of the others who came, including Majana, and was hoping she could finally persuade her into talking, though she already had a pretty good idea of the problem, even if no-one else did.

Nala, finally reaching the pile stepped noiselessly inside, observing the other lioness for a moment before saying, "Vitani."

Vitani whirled, growling fiercely a moment, before recognising the other figure, "Nala?" The former queen smiled slightly at this, but didn't say anything, so she asked, "what're you doing out here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Nala replied levelly, "in fact, that's what I'm doing out here, to find out what you're hiding."

"Huh," Vitani said, "what d'you mean, 'what I'm hiding', I'm not hiding anything."

"A likely story," Nala replied in the same level tone, "why are you out here, what are you hiding, what are you afraid of?"

"I'm not hiding anything," Vitani replied, sounding slightly more annoyed, "and I don't know what gave you the idea that I'm afraid of anything."

"It might be the fact that we rarely see you now, ever," Nala said, you don't even come in for meals half the time any more, and sometimes not even to sleep."

"So, it's my life," Vitani replied defensively, "I can act how I like."

"And Majana's life is yours as well is it," Nala asked sharply, "because she's desperately worried about you, we all are, but her more than anyone else."

Vitani sighed, and said, "she has to learn to cope on her own, she'll have to do it eventually anyway."

Vitani didn't see it, but at this last sentence Nala's expression hardened, going from the mild frown it had before to a cold, hunter's concentration, as did her tone, "Vitani, look at me." The other lioness didn't looks, so she moved in front of her, and as their gazes locked, said, "You will tell me 'everything'."

"And if I don't," Vitani replied, her tone not quite managing to hide her surprise and worry at the sudden change in Nala's attitude.

"Don't make that choice," Nala replied, both her tone and her gaze promising dire consequences for disobedience.

Vitani tried to hold Nala's gaze but she couldn't, the former queen's hard stare finding any weaknesses in the other lioness's will and forcing them wide open. Finally, she had to drop her gaze, and in a voice barely more than a whisper, said, "okay, okay I'll tell."

"Good," Nala said, smiling, though with her mouth only, but averting her gaze, "stay here."

"What, why," Vitani asked, as Nala turned to leave, "where are you going?"

"To get Majana," Nala replied, "stay here."

"Majana," Vitani said, "but she's..."

"You daughter," Nala broke in forcefully, "she has more right to know than anyone else, even me."

Vitani again tried to hold Nala's gaze, but it remained as cold and threatening as it had been just those few moments before, and she had to submit, "okay, go and get her."

"Indeed I will," Nala said,

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Majana was talking to Kanuni when Nala approached, and waiting for a moment, broke in, "Majana could I have you for a while?"

"Um, sure," Majana said, wondering why Nala wanted her, "you okay with that Kan'?"

"Yeah, sure," Kanuni replied, equally confused as to Nala's plans, but not daring to question them, "I'm sure I can go and talk to dad or Grandpa or someone."

"Good idea," Nala said, in a cool, but not unkind tone.

"Yeah," Kanuni said, "see you later Maj'."

"Bye," Majana said, then turned to Nala, "what's going on?"

"We're going to see your mother," Nala replied, "she's admitted she didn't entirely tell the truth when she came back."

"Okay," Majana said, "but how did you get her to do it, she won't tell me even."

"Oh I won't say it wasn't difficult," Nala said, "but one thing I leaned as a queen was how to be forceful without being insulting." She smiled at this, and added, "and as hard as your mother is, even she isn't immune to it."

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Vitani had considered trying to escape after Nala had left, but didn't dare try it because she wasn't quite sure whether or not the former queen would actually punish her for it, and instead, tried to pass the time another way, though time seemed to stretch out ahead of her no matter what she tried. So taut was her tension, in fact, then when Majana finally said, "Mother," behind her, she jumped half her own length in the air.

"Majana," Vitani said, turning when she managed to recover her senses, "Nala."

"Vitani," Nala replied, then ushered Majana over to her and they both sat down, indicating for Vitani to do the same, "shall we start at the top?"

"Probably best," Vitani replied, not meeting either lioness's gaze. She paused a moment, then went on, "okay, I admit I wasn't telling the full truth the last time."

"Why not," Majana asked.

Vitani looked at her daughter, and considered ignoring Majana's question, but a glance at Nala told her otherwise. "I don't know," she replied after a few moment, "I guess I was ashamed some, maybe a lot."

"Why's that," Majana asked.

"I, I fell in love with Alex," Vitani said, hanging her head, "I was ashamed of that a bit, after all, he was even softer than Nuka had been, and barely less pathetic."

Nala was smiling now, and before Majana could ask anything else, said, "and you thought that loving someone soft would make you soft as well."

"Well I..." Vitani began, but another glance at Nala confirmed that while the former queen was smiling and had a light tone, her gaze was barely less forceful than it had been, and disobedience was not a wise choice, "that was some of it, maybe a lot of it."

"There you go," Nala said, "that wasn't so hard was it?"

"Maybe," Vitani replied.

"Maybe, indeed," Nala said, "and now I think you could tell us the whole story, what actually did happen, not the one you made up.

'It wasn't all made up,' Vitani thought, 'not much of it at all,' but instead of that, said, "okay."

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	7. Arrival

I don't own any of the characters apart from Amili (Swahili for 'guide'), Najiri (Swahili for 'emigrate') and Amara (Swahili for 'help').

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"How much further is it anyway," Gloria asked, "this place is baking me raw."

Najiri sighed, and replied, "not very far now." He was growing tired of her seemingly near-constant complaining, but then reminded himself that she wasn't being difficult, she was in fact remarkably resilient, but the journey they had made in the past moon was probably further than most hippos moved on land in a year, even two, and she'd sometimes spend days at a time out of water which must not have been a pleasant experience.

Not that Gloria was the only one suffering from the journey, for all his enthusiasm to begin with, Marty was also struggling, though for a totally different reason, he was feeling vulnerable. This also wasn't particularly unusual, he was the smallest of the group bar Alex, and had been the subject of the hunt of one predator or another several times, once a leopard had dropped onto his back, and another time he'd been chased for some distance by a pack of hunting dogs, only managing to escape that pursuit by running them up against a party of hyenas, and had returned to the group so shaken that they hadn't been able to make any progress at all the next day.

Now Marty's nerves were on edge again, and he looked around nervously, expecting the worst. After a few moments, he though he saw a shape, and backed away from it, blundering into Alex. "Hey, watch it Marty," the lion said, "what're you on about now?"

"I'm sure I saw a hyena up there," indicating a ledge. The terrain wasn't helping his fears either, the cliffs and bluffs restricted his vision, and every uneven shadow seemed to hide a danger.

Alex looked up where Marty was indicating, but didn't see anything, "ah, calm down Marty, you're seeing things."

"I'm not," Marty retorted, "I'm sure I saw..."

"There's nothing there," Alex said waving a paw at the definitely empty ledge, "you're jumping at shadows buddy."

"Easy enough for you to say," Marty muttered, glancing back up at the ledge.

"Indeed," Najiri said, "well whether or not Marty saw a hyena, we would do well to be on our guard." He didn't say anything more, but felt slightly glad that the zebra had purported to have seen a hyena, because he was beginning to think that he'd been the only one seeing indications of the scruffy carnivores.

Not long later, and to the gratification of both Najiri and Gloria, the group emerged at the river, though it wasn't a spot they would be able to cross, not with the six-foot bank on their side and the twelve-foot one on the other. "Where are we going to cross," Melman asked, "because there is no way, hey, I just saw a crocodile."

"Well crossing here is obviously going to be counterproductive," Najiri said, looking either way up the river to try and remember where the banks were more reasonable, "but don't worry about the crocodiles, there are ways to deal with them."

"So which way," Marty asked, a touch anxious at having hyenas one side and crocodiles the other.

"I believe it was this way," Najiri said, taking the lead, "I'm not certain of course, but if I do turn out to be wrong we can always go the other way anyway."

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"Well it's less of a drop," Alex said, looking down at the river, "but there's still crocodiles in it, like that one there."

"Indeed there are," Najiri said, "but as I said, there are ways to deal with them, Amili?"

"Coming father," Amili said, following Najiri, who was watching the crocodile carefully. When they were both on the bank, he nodded at her and on cue she began to splash her hoof in the water. It took a few moments for the crocodile to react, but then it came gliding over, and in a moment, charged.

Things didn't go to plat for the crocodile however, as Amili dodged, barely, and Najiri kicked out at the reptile, striking it with several good blows. Confused and wounded, the crocodile abandoned its pursuit, and took off further down the river, not stopping for some distance. Successful, the older male girafe turned to tthe others, and said, "it should be safe now."

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"Sire, sire, urgent news," Amara said, landing beside Kovu, he knew he wasn't supposed to be here how, certainly not during mealtimes, but he considered the news urgent enough to be worth it.

"What is it Amara," Kovu asked, turning away from his meat.

"Sire, I wish to report an odd incursion out on the border," Amara said, "a hippo, a zebra, a lion and three giraffes have just crossed into the Pridelands and appear to be heading this way."

"That's odd," Kovu said, then looked up at Simba, "any advice?"

Simba nodded, and asked, "how long will it take them to get here Amara?"

"At their current pace," Amara replied, "well some time, maybe mid afternoon."

Kovu thought for a few moments, then said, "continue gathering the afternoon report, but report back immediately if they change course or speed, understood?"

"Completely sire," Amara said, "sorry to have bothered you, but..."

"No, you were right to do it," Kovu said, "but go on, get out there again." Amara bowed a moment then flew off.

Silent witness to the event, Nala considered her options, then, with a touch of rebellion, slipped away from the group, making sure no-one was following her, and headed for the gorge. She'd probably get into trouble for this she knew, but the punishment wouldn't be much, and she was quite ready to take it.

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Vitani was relaxing in the shade of the rocks picking over the last remains of the young gazelle when she heard paw steps approaching, and a moment later, a voice, "Vitani."

"Nala," Vitani said, turning, "what's up?"

"There's been an incursion into the Pridelands," Nala replied, smiling faintly, "a hippo, a zebra, a lion, and three giraffes."

"Three," Vitani asked, confused.

"That's what Amara reported," Nala replied, "sounds like they picked up a couple of friends."

"Yeah," Vitani said, then looked at Nala, "you realise you're going to get in trouble for doing this, right?"

"Uh-huh," Nala said with a half smile, "but exactly how much trouble can I actually get in?"

"A point," Vitani said, then grinned, "thanks for telling me."

"Any time," Nala replied.

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	8. First encounters

I don't own any of the characters apart from Amili (Swahili for 'guide'), Najiri (Swahili for 'emigrate'), Amara (Swahili for 'help') and Hakimu (Swahili for 'judge'). Urembo (Swahili for 'ornamental markings') is not my character (known commonly as Dotty), but the name is mine

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"Almost there," Alex said, looking at Pride Rock, which now appeared taller than a his paw, "I wonder if they're all out hunting and that."

"Actually, they're in at the moment," said a voice off to the side.

Alex' whirled at the voice, grinning like an idiot to be met by a smiling face that was 'very' familiar, "Vitani."

"You gotcha," Vitani said, approaching him, "long time, no see."

"Too long," Alex said, "way too long."

"Agreed, it's good to see you again" Vitani said, then turned to the others, "good to see all of you again, leastways, for those I've seen before."

"All of us," Gloria asked, her tone indescribable.

"That's what I said wasn't it," Vitani said, "and meaning no offense of anything, but you look like you've been through hell."

"I have," Gloria replied, "try three days without bathing."

Gloria wasn't sure what she expected to say, but it wasn't what she did say, "sorry to hear that, it must have been hard."

"It was," Gloria said, "believe me, it was."

Vitani nodded, then turned to Melman, "looks like you picked up a few friends."

"I have," Melman replied, "these are Amili and Najiri."

"Najiri," Vitani said, "so you'd be that friend Zazu was talking about."

"I am," Najiri said, "and you'd be the lioness that Alex is attracted to?"

"A terrible affliction on his part," Vitani replied with a smile, "but I'm sure he'll deal with it."

"A terrible..." Alex began then Vitani smiled at him and he realised it was a joke, "geez, you had me worried for a moment."

"Yeah, well, my sense of humour was never the greatest," Vitani said.

"And neither is mine," said another voice coolly.

Vitani whirled at the voice so face the dark lion and the accompanying pair of lionesses, "Kovu, Hakimu, Urembo."

"Vitani," Kovu replied, "why are you out here ahead of me?"

"I didn't realise it was against the rules to greet an old friend," Vitani replied.

"It isn't," Kovu replied, "but he'd more than just an 'old friend' isn't he, you want him to join the pride don't you."

"Well that was the original idea, yes," Vitani said, "what's that got to do with it?"

"Did I say it had anything to do with it," Kovu asked, then said "Urembo."

Urembo sighed, then stepped forward and said, "come on Vit'."

"Why," Vitani asked.

"Because I said so," Kovu replied.

Vitani stared at the king for a few moments, then sighed and said, "see you later Alex," before following Urembo away from the group.

A few moments after Vitani had left, Kovu and Hakimu, moved towards the group. At a nod from the king, the lioness began examining and sizing up the rest of the group, while dark lion restricted his examination to Alex.

"You know, I'd never have figured that of you Vitani," Urembo said, as they watched Kovu with Alex, and to a lesser degree, Hakimu with the rest of the group.

"What's that," Vitani asked.

"That you could go for such a fraidy-cat," Urembo replied, "I mean, come on, he's near as big as Simba, but he's flinching at Kovu."

"He's never had to fight in his life," Vitani replied with a shrug, "if you don't do it, you don't want to do it."

"And that really 'is' unlike you," Urembo said, "normally you wouldn't even look at a guy till he'd won a few fights."

"Things change," Vitani replied, "I'm not the same lioness I was when I got caught."

'That's for sure,' Urembo thought, wondering what, if any, other surprises Vitani had in store.

"Well," Kovu asked Hakimu when she was finished, and they'd move off a little way, "any thoughts?"

"The hippo might be trouble," Hakimu replied, glancing at Gloria, who was staring back defiantly, " and the old giraffe, but that's about it."

"Now what," Vitani asked, as she and Urembo watched Kovu and Hakimu start their dicussion.

"I guess we put in an appearance," Urembo said, then had to lope to catch up with Vitani.

"Well," Vitani asked when she reached Kovu and Hakimu, "what's the verdict?"

"We still have doubts about the hippo and the older giraffe," Kovu replied, "other than that, things are okay."

"Well I'm given to understand that that giraffe was a herd leader," Vitani said, "so he's okay, and as for the hippo, well she doesn't like me, but other than that she's good as well."

"And you'd stake your life on that would you," Kovu asked, "you know what's going to happen if they do something."

"Oh yes, I know alright," Vitani replied, almost growling, "are you willing to stake your reputation as a king on my word?"

"What's that supposed to mean," Kovu asked coldly.

"I'm your sister," Vitani replied, her tone equally cold, "what's it going to say for your reputation if you can't even bring yourself to trust me?"

Kovu consider this for a few moments, before nodding and saying, "very well."

"Good," Vitani said then walked over to the others, "sorry about that, my brother seems to be a bit paranoid today."

"I'm not paranoid Vitani," Kovu said, having heard her perfectly well.

"Whatever," Vitani replied, then turned to Alex and smiled, "shall we go?"

"Um, okay," Alex said, though he was obviously still nervous.

"Oh come on," Vitani said, nudging him and smiling, "Kovu's not 'that' bad, he's just gone way serious since he became king."

"Your brother's king," Marty asked, "I thought you said it was this Simba guy."

"Simba was king when I left," Vitani replied, "he abdicated while I was away."

"Ah, right," Marty said.

"Who was the lioness who was snooping round," Gloria asked coolly, "I didn't like the look of her at all."

"That was Hakimu," Vitani replied, "she's a pretty hard case really, good hunter and fighter, but cold."

"Just like you," Gloria murmured, just on the edge of hearing. At this, Vitani's head whipped around and she glared at the hippo, who returned it.

Marty, not liking the sudden tension, asked, "so who was the other one?"

"Hm," Vitani said, turning away from Gloria to look at Marty, "what?"

"Who's the other lioness there," Marty asked, indicating the Kovu and the other two lionesses.

"That's Urembo," Vitani replied, "she's nothing to worry about really, laid back, maybe a bit of a tease, but good natured."

"How many of the pride are like Hakimu," Melman asked, having been silent till now."

"Just a few," Vitani replied, "not many, though, now come on." At this, she began to walk ahead, and soon the rest of the group were following her, headed for Pride Rock.

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	9. The whole pride

I don't own any of the characters apart from Amili (Swahili for 'guide'), Najiri (Swahili for 'emigrate') and Hakimu (Swahili for 'judge'). Urembo (Swahili for 'ornamental markings') and Jeraha (Swahili for 'markings') are not my characters (known commonly as Dotty and Spotty), but the names are mine.

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"Well, they're here," Simba said, looking out at the savannah. He couldn't see most of the group yet, what with the distance and tall grass, but tall as the grass was, it wasn't tall enough to obscure the three giraffes.

"Yeah," Kiara said, "but which one's this Melman, d'you know?"

"None of us have much idea," Nala replied, "but no doubt we'll find out soon enough."

Soon enough, the group reached the base of Pride Rock and the welcoming committee Simba had arranged. The lionesses were arranged in a rough arc with the royal couple and their daughter in the middle. Vitani and the new arrivals stopped just short of the centre, whereas Kovu and his escorts carried on, "Well the former king asked when the younger darker lion was near, how does it look?"

"Hakimu thinks the hippo might be some trouble, and the older giraffe, but other than that, not bad," Kovu replied, "although, Maybe just you and Nala to start off with."

"Why not me," Kiara asked, slightly put out by Kovu's suggestion.

"Sorry, Ki'" Kovu said, "the lion's real nervous, and you can be a bit, well, boisterous, at times."

"Well, I can still get a bit excitable I suppose," Kiara said, smiling embarrassedly, "maybe later." Simba glanced over at Nala, wondering whether to say anything, but she shook her head unobtrusively. They both knew that Kovu had other , more personal reasons for ensuring that their daughter didn't get too heavily involved with the new arrivals, but it wouldn't do any good to mention it.

"Yeah," Kovu said, "just as soon as they've calmed down a bit."

"Tell me," Simba said quietly to Nala as they approached the group, "did you have anything to do with Vitani being with them now?"

"Who, me," Nala asked, "what made you think that?" Simba glanced over at his mate, and wasn't surprised to see that while her voice had sounded sincere, there was a glint in her eyes that said otherwise.

"Vitani," Simba said, reaching the group.

"Simba," Vitani replied, "Nala."

"So this is your friend Alex is it," Nala asked, "and your other friends, sorry, I've forgotten their names."

"Well it's Marty, Gloria, Melman, Amili, Melman and Najiri," Vitani replied.

"Pleased to meet you," Nala said, then turned to Vitani, "and if I may?"

"Be my guest," Vitani replied, taking one step back so that Nala could get past easily.

"Well there is one problem I can see right off," Simba said.

"And that is," Vitani asked.

"You friend Alex' self-confidence," Simba replied, "or rather total lack thereof."

"Oh, that," Vitani said, "yeah, I'll work on that, don't you worry."

"Good," Simba said, and continued his examination. Vitani was pleased to note that this examination seemed to be mostly for temperament, rather than, as Hakimu's had been, for threat assessment, and was over quite quickly as well. As the former royals considered their verdict, the younger lioness thought about asking them for their opinions, but decided against it, and instead waited impatiently.

After a few more moments, and a short whispered conversation between the former royal couple, Simba said, "well for some reason Kovu seems to have become very conservative since he took over, I however try to be a bit more open."

"So we're okay then," Vitani asked, "not a deadly threat or anything?"

"Not as far as I'm concerned," Simba said, and Nala nodded her agreement, then the former king smiled, "and we'll just have to see how long Kovu can hold out on that view once Kiara gets involved as well."

"There's that," Vitani replied with a chuckle, knowing how disarming Kiara could be. A thought struck her, and she asked, "just me and Alex or all of us?"

"Your choice," Simba said, "but if this lot can't stand you friends I don't know how we've managed till now."

Vitani chuffed at that, then turned to the others, and asked, "ready to meet the pride?"

"Provided I'm not on the menu," Marty said. Vitani barely suppressed her smile at this, even in a situation as potentially dangerous as he was in now, the zebra still managed to be adventurous, enthusiastic, Alex on the other hand...

"I'm not so sure," Alex said, nervously surveying the unsmiling, watchful lionesses, "I mean, they don't exactly look friendly do they?"

"Alex," Vitani said exasperatedly, "you're pathetic sometimes, you come all this way after me, and now you refuse to meet my family and friends."

"Don't go too hard on him Vitani," Simba said, "after all, you didn't deal too well with his home, so you shouldn't expect him to fit in here right away."

"What makes you say that?" Vitani asked staring angrily at Simba.

"Experience," Simba replied, but refused to elaborate.

Vitani continued to stare for a few moments, then turned back to Alex, "come on." This time, Alex didn't hesitate to follow her, though he was obviously still cautious. Following Simba and Nala, she was pleased to see Kiara was nearby, and that Urembo had stayed as well, it'd probably be good to introduce those two first.

"So this is Alex is it," Kiara asked, smiling, when Vitani and the lion approached. The lioness nodded, unable to keep a satisfied smile from her face. "Well, as queen of pride rock, I welcome you."

"Uh, thanks," Alex said, surprised at the apparently instant acceptance, but unsure of how to act.

"Oh, not at all," Kiara said, then her smile changed as she looked at Vitani, but kept talking to Alex, "it's about time she found someone she can talk to privately."

"Hey, not all of us have boyfriends pr-queen," Urembo said.

"No not everyone," Kiara replied, turning to the former outlander, "but at least you've got Jeraha, and up till now Vitani's not really had anyone."

"Well that's true," Urembo said, "although I have to say, I'm surprised at her choice." Approaching Alex, she said, "so you're the one who managed to pacify Vitani then are you?"

"Hey, I was pretty passive before," Vitani broke in, sounding serious, but unable to keep a smile from her face.

"Sure you were Vit'," Urembo said, "sure you were."

"And so were you as I recall," Vitani replied, "took you a couple of moons to actually start talking to the pridelanders." At this Urembo looked embarrassed and stopped teasing."

"So who's Jeraha," Alex asked, looking around.

"That's her there," Vitani replied, pointing at another lioness with what seemed to be a row of spots under her left eye, "she and Urembo are sisters."

"Yep, and she's a real spoil-sport," Urembo said, raising her voice slightly."

"I'll get for that later Ure'," Jeraha called, knowing full-well her sister was baiting her.

"Sure you will Jer'," Urembo said, "sure you will."

Alex glanced questioningly at Vitani, who only smiled and rolled her eyes.

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	10. Unexpected revelations

I don't own any of the characters apart from Amili (Swahili for 'guide'), Najiri (Swahili for 'emigrate') and Majana (Swahili for 'child'). Urembo (Swahili for 'ornamental markings') is not my character (known commonly as Dotty), but the names is mine.

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Nala smiled as she surveyed the scene in front of her, the whole pride was talking, except herself Simba and Kovu, who seemed to be sulking somewhat, and of Vitani's friends, only Najiri hadn't joined the conversations. Nevertheless, the more-than-visitors were beginning to look drawn, so she finally rose, made her way over to to the younger lioness, and said, "you know, your friends are beginning to look a little stressed Vitani, why not give then a tour of the Pridelands?"

"Really," Vitani asked, then turned to Alex, "you stressed?"

"Well I wouldn't exactly say stressed," Alex replied, "but it took me a few days to get really used to moving, so it's probably going to take me a couple to get used to not moving again, so yeah, I think I could do with a quick tour."

"Okay," Vitani said, then turned, Marty, Gloria, Melman?"

"Hey, I'm cool whatever," Marty replied.

"Well I wasn't going to mention it," Melman said, "but I am getting pins and needles a bit."

"Pins and needles," Vitani asked.

"It's the prickling sensation you get when you start moving after having lain in one position for a while."

"Oh, little thorns," Vitani said, "probably no wonder with kneeling down like that."

"Yes, it's not a common occurrence," Melman said, "in fact, I'm hard-pressed to think of the last time I was down like this."

"Last I remember was Christmas four years ago," Gloria said, "you pulled a muscle on the second day of the parade, you were out for like a week."

"Only time I remember as well," Marty said, "well except the day you arrived, so this is like, only the third time in seven years."

"Most probably," Melman said, then shifted, and murmured, "now let's see if I can remember how to do this."

"I can see why giraffes don't kneel down too often," Urembo said, as the pride watched both Melman and Amili struggling to rise, "they'd hardly able to do it."

"With legs this long," Melman said, between hard breaths, "is it any wonder?" Finally, he made it upright, and smiled at Amili, who'd been only slightly quicker and more graceful in the act.

"Shall we start then," Vitani asked when the two giraffes seemed to properly motive again.

"I can't see any reason why not," Amili replied, then turned to Najiri, "are you coming father?"

"Only to remind myself of a few things," Najiri replied, "after all, I was born here."

"Really," Simba asked, "when was that?"

"A long time ago," Najiri replied, "long enough in fact si-Simba, that I was old enough to be herd leader at the time of your presentation."

Simba felt his jaw drop open, and it took him several moments to gather his thoughts before he managed to say, "you, you must be older than my father."

"Quite possibly," Najiri said, than added, "it's odd isn't it, we develop quicker in some ways and yet manage to live longer as well."

"Develop quicker," Alex said, "I didn't know that."

"You didn't know that," Vitani asked, as almost every other animal, including Amili and Najiri stared at him.

"Well he hasn't exactly had a lot of experience," Marty replied, stepping in to support Alex.

"Why not," Vitani asked.

Marty sighed, then said, "the winter he was born was the coldest I can remember, and I don't think there was one of us in the zoo, 'cept maybe the penguins and the polar bear who didn't come down with something." After a moment he added, "anyway, for most us it was just chills, although two of the gazelle died..."

"Gazelle, Vitani asked, "what happened to them."

"Oh after that winter they got shipped south," Marty replied, "of course, you'd never have known them, their enclosure ended up being given to Melman."

"Ah, right," Vitani said, "well, carry on then."

"Anyway," Marty continued, "mostly it was just chills, except for Alex' family, they all caught pneumonia."

"Pneumonia," Kiara asked, "what's that?"

"It comes from breathing cold air," Melman explained, "it causes fluid to build up in the lungs, from what I understand, it's very unpleasant."

"Sounds it," Vitani said, "so all of the other lions died?"

"Well Alex's day was on loan from somewhere else," Marty replied, "so he got shipped back, but, yeah, the rest of them did." He thought for a moment, then added, "Alex' brother died in two days, his sister in three, and their mother managed to hold on for about half a mo-moon."

"But Alex survived," Vitani said, suddenly feeling more sympathetic for the lion than she ever had done."

"Just barely," Marty said, "it took him about two moons to shake it as I recall."

"That must have been terrible," Nala said kindly.

"Yeah," Vitani said, "shall we go then?"

"Yeah, let's," Alex said, his voice thick with emotion.

"Well," Simba said when Vitani, Alex and their friends had gone, "that was, unexpected."

"It most certainly was," Nala said, wondering what sort of effect that would have on the two lion's relationship.

"How can she not have known," Kiara asked, "I mean it was obviously traumatic, yet he never let on."

"Quite possibly he didn't remember," Nala said, "after all it was Marty who was telling it, not Alex."

"True," Kiara said, "but it must have been awful nevertheless."

"Very likely," Nala said, but it doesn't seen to be bothering him too much in itself." She paused a moment, glancing round, then nodding surreptitiously in Kovu's direction, and whispering, "the same can't be said for other things."

Kiara knew exactly what Nala was referring to, "yeah, I don't know what's going on there."

"Well why not go and find out then," Nala asked pointedly.

"Yeah, I guess I should," Kiara said, not able to meet Nala's gaze, "excuse me a moment would you?"

"Certainly," Nala said, then smiled, as Kiara made her way over to where Kovu was sitting.

"Hey Kovu," Kiara said, reaching her mate, "what's wrong?"

"What makes you think anything's wrong," Kovu asked, coolly.

"Because you haven't spoken a word since you came back," Kiara replied, "look, what's going on between you and Alex?"

"Absolutely nothing," Kovu said, "now can we just get off the subject please?"

"Not until you give me a straight answer," Kiara replied, "what is it that you don't like about Alex?"

Kovu looked at Kiara, then looked away, unable to match the intensity of her gaze. Finally, he answered, "it's just, I don't like the thought of another male around, I mean Simba's alright, he used to be king after all, but what if this Alex gets it into his head to take over?"

"Hey, I'd have to agree to it first remember," Kiara said, "but if it's got you that worried I'll have a talk with Vitani later, okay?"

"Okay," Kovu replied, "thanks."

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	11. Sorting problems

I don't own any of the characters apart from Amili (Swahili for 'guide').

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"Is something the matter," Vitani asked as they walked away from Pride Rock. It seemed to her that Alex was more listless than normal.

Alex was silent for a moment, then sighed and said, "yeah, yeah there is."

Vitani considered the point for a few moments, then said, "it's Kovu isn't it?"

"Well I wouldn't exactly put it like that," Alex said carefully, uncertain of whether commenting on the subject would anger her.

Vitani was silent for a moment, then said, "you know, if it is a problem with Kovu, you can tell me about it."

"But he's your brother," Alex said.

"Yes he is my brother," Vitani replied, "but we've never really got along brilliantly, we've always had what you might call, creative differences."

"Well, okay, yes I do have a problem with him," Alex said, "I mean, why is he so against me anyway?"

"That I don't know," Vitani replied, "but don't worry about it."

"Why not," Alex asked, "he's the king isn't he?"

"He is," Vitani said, "but that's not as important as you'd think."

"Why's that," Alex asked.

"Because Kiara's the heir," Vitani replied, "ultimately it's up to her whether you stay or not, and she seems to like you."

"So you still think there's a chance," Alex asked, "I mean, I don't want to cause any trouble or anything."

"Alex, if there is trouble it isn't going to be your fault," Vitani said, "and if it gets so bad you have to leave, well, I'll be going with you."

"Really," Alex asked, "you'd really come with me if I left?"

"I would," Vitani said firmly, then chuckled.

"What's that," Alex asked, wondering what had amused Vitani.

"I was just thinking, remembering," Vitani replied, "a year ago I hadn't even met you, half a year ago I could barely stand you, and now I want to spend my life with you."

"R-really," Alex asked. He knew Vitani had feelings for him, but he hadn't realised they'd been to that degree.

"Oh yes," Vitani said, "and there's one other thing on that score I wanted to mention."

"And that was..." Alex asked, a little intrigued now.

"If you want to, you can call me 'tani," Vitani replied.

"'tani," Alex asked, "oh, I see, it's an abbreviation."

"It is," Vitani said, a slight edge in her voice, "but it's also a term of affection."

"Really," Alex asked, "that's, nice of you."

"Nice," Vitani asked, a definite edge in her voice now, "I don't allow even let Kovu to call me by that name, though I do Kiara, even if she rarely does."

Alex paused a moment, then said, "well, thank you, it's an honour."

A little way behind Alex and Vitani, Marty said to Melman, "well those two seem to be enjoying themselves."

"They certainly seem to be on friendly terms now," Melman replied.

"Weren't they always," Amili asked.

"Heck no," Marty replied, "first time they met Vitani almost tried to kill Alex."

"She had just come out of quarantine," Melman pointed out, "she had just spend thirty days alone, or more if you're counting the time from when she was caught."

"Yeah," Marty said, "thirty plus days alone, and being cooped up cages, crates and tiny enclosures didn't help."

"She does seem to prefer open spaces," Melman said, "it was quite noticeable how much more pleasant she was even when she was first released than she had been at any time before."

Gloria remained silent through all of this, though even she could sense that Vitani was different now, calmer and more civilised. This wasn't to say that she liked the lioness any more, there was still a lot of resentment built up there, but she would at least be easier to deal with now.

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"Everyone's staring at us," Alex said, looking nervously at the tableau of animals, all of which were indeed staring at them.

"That's sort of expected," Vitani said, giving Alex a sidelong glance, "after all, we aren't the most usual group of animals to visit the waterhole."

"True," Alex said, then asked, "none of them are dangerous are they?"

"Most of them 'are' dangerous actually," Vitani said, "especially things like rhinos and elephants, but don't worry, they're not aggressive, so if you leave them alone they'll leave you alone."

"Ah, right," Alex said, "good to know."

Vitani glanced meaningfully at Alex at this statement, and then asked, "what's wrong?"

"What d'you mean, 'what's wrong'," Alex asked, "there's nothing wrong."

"Don't try to play me for a fool Alex," Vitani said, "I can..." then saw the others approaching, "what kept you?"

"Ah, nothing much," Marty replied, "though you two might like some time alone."

"Thanks," Vitani said, then a thought occured to her, "tell me, has Alex been acting a bit odd recently?"

"How d'you mean odd," Marty asked.

"Well, scared, kind of thing," Vitani said, "if you understand me?"

"Well he has been a bit withdrawn since you left," Marty said, "I thought it was because he was missing you." He turned to Alex and asked, "Al' buddy, is there something wrong?"

Alex sighed and thought about denying his problems yet again, but couldn't bring himself to do it. Finally, he replied, "I, I just don't feel like I fit here."

"What d'you mean, 'don't feel like you fit'," Vitani asked, "is this still to do with Kovu?"

"No it isn't," Alex replied, "I mean, everything that's happened here has been great and all, but, this isn't my home, it isn't what I grew up with."

"Hey, this ain't what I grew up with either," Marty said, "but I'm doing fine."

Alex looked like he was about to say something, then thought better of it, sighing and turning away. Marty wanted to say something to this, but Vitani shook her head, and went over to sit beside the lion, "you know, you're not the only one to have felt like this."

"Oh yeah," Alex said, "and who else do you know that's felt like this?"

"I did once," Vitani replied, "right here in the Pridelands."

"You," Alex asked, stunned, "when did you feel like that?"

"Shortly after I joined the pride," Vitani replied, "it took me about a month to settle down."

"So what happened in the end," Alex asked.

"I remembered I'd mocked Nala during the fight," Vitani replied, "so I went to apologise, and she accepted."

"Okay," Alex said, "but I haven't done anything I need to apologise for."

"I know you haven't," Vitani said, "so it's going to take something else to get you settled down."

"You really think there's something can help," Alex asked.

"No, I 'know' there is," Vitani replied, "I don't know what it is, but believe me, we'll find it one day."

Alex was less sure of Vitani's words than Vitani seemed to be, but he wasn't going to say so, instead saying, "thanks."

"Any time," Vitani said, "shall we get a drink then get on with the rest of the tour now then?"

"Probably a good idea," Alex replied.

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	12. First night

I don't own any of the characters apart from Amili (Swahili for 'guide'), Majana (Swahili for 'child').

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"What's that up ahead," Melman asked, as the group made its way towards another Pridelands landmark.

"What you looking at Mel'," Marty asked, "I can't see anything."

"It looks like the land just drops off," Melman replied, "a cliff of some sort maybe."

"Actually it's a canyon," Vitani said, "big one as well."

"How big," Gloria asked.

"About as wide as the street in front of Grand Central Station I figure," Vitani replied, "and about as deep as Pride Rock is high."

"Now that sounds impressive," Marty said.

"Indeed it does," Melman said, then spotted something else, "what's that over there, it looks like a pile of rocks."

"It is just a pile of rocks," Vitani replied, "but it's just been piled so that there's a few niches in it, little caves to sleep a couple of lions."

"Sounds like a nice little getaway," Marty said, glancing at Vitani and Alex.

Alex didn't see Marty's glance, but Vitani did, and to the zebra's surprise, said simply, "could be, but for now, the canyon, though everyone around here calls it the gorge."

Vitani heard several intakes of breathe when they finally reached the gorge and looked down, then one of them, she didn't catch who, murmured, "spectacular."

Vitani let the gawking go on for a little while, before realising the position of the sun, and breaking the moment, "come on, we ought to get back."

"Why," Alex asked, "sun's still up."

"Yes it is," Vitani said, "but by the time we get back it might not be."

"True," Alex said, then turned to the others, "head back now then?"

"Well I might be out here tomorrow," Marty said, "but, yeah, let's head back."

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"What kept you," Kiara asked when the group finally returned. The sun was already a quarter set, staining the western horizon a fiery red, and stars were appearing in the eastern sky.

"Took them right out to the gorge," Vitani replied, "not in the normal range I know, but well worth it."

"Trust you to give them a full tour," Kiara smiled, then added as though reading Vitani's mind, "no, we haven't been out hunting this afternoon."

"But she didn't say anything," Alex said.

"No she didn't," Kiara said, giving the lion a lopsided smile, "but I've lived with Vitani long enough to know how she thinks."

Alex looked puzzled, then shrugged, he'd known Vitani for about two months since she'd been back in Africa, and then she'd been his teacher, was it any wonder that he didn't know her inside and out?

Kiara smiled at Alex's display, then turned to Vitani "so you sorted out the sleeping arrangements yet?"

"Sleeping arrangements," Alex asked.

"Yeah, sleeping arrangements," Vitani said, "we usually sleep in the cave, but I can't imagine Gloria or Marty being particularly comfortable in there, and I'm not sure Melman or Amili would even fit."

"Geez, I hadn't thought of that," Alex said, "um, what are you doing tonight?"

"Nothing much really," Vitani replied, then smiled, "if course it's a nice night out, so I might be tempted to sleep under the stars."

"Really," Alex asked, then caught her smile, "thanks."

"Don't mention it," Vitani said, "now come on, let's go get bedded down."

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Vitani was awake early the next morning to find that not was Alex with her, but so was Majana, who had managed to worm her way under one of her mother's forelegs, and was lying curled up on the other. Another time she might have tried to extract her leg, which was now numb, but lying here with her daughter and everything she represented on one side, and Alex and everything he represented on the other, she just didn't have the heart to disturb it, instead just sighing happily.

The perfect moment couldn't last Vitani knew, and soon enough, Kiara appeared at the mouth of the cave, and they shared a smile at the tableau, then the queen made her way over to Vitani, and whispered, "were you and Alex planning to do anything today?"

Vitani thought about the question for a moment, then replied in a whisper, "a bit of cub-sitting maybe, why?"

Kiara glanced momentarily at the cave, before replying, "because I was hoping that you and I could get Kovu and Alex together in relative privacy so they could work over their differences."

Vitani thought about this for a moment, then realised that they'd have to go through the meeting before Kovu let Alex anywhere near the cubs, "sounds good, cleared it with Kovu yet?"

"Not yet," Kiara replied, "I will soon though." She then looked back at the cave, and said, "see you later."

"See ya," Vitani said as Kiara crept back into the cave, leaving the former outlander alone, and somehow unable to catch the perfectly content feeling she'd had earlier.

Nor did Vitani have long to attempt to regain her contentedness either, because before long Majana stirred.

Half awake, Majana shifted uncomfortably, she was lying on something but she couldn't figure out what. After a few more moments, she was finally awake enough to do something about her discomfort, and rolled over to see what she was lying on, only to find herself face-to-face with a lioness, and realise what she was lying on. She panicked for a moment, before she recognised the lioness, "m-mother?"

"Majana," Vitani replied, a look of concern on her face, "is everything alright?"

"Yeah um yes, mother," Majana replied, calming down, "but I'm lying on your arm aren't I?"

"You are," Vitani said, but when Majana went to move, she smiled and used her other foreleg to pull her close, "but it's not something I mind much, you are my daughter after all."

Majana struggled for a moment, then calmed down, and smiling, draped her own foreleg over her mother's neck, "thanks mum."

"Any time Maj'," Vitani replied, then seemed to think of something, "so what d'you think of Alex and the others?"

"I like them," Majana replied, "they're all nice," then looked nervous for a moment, "even Gloria, though she's a bit like you."

Vitani understood Majana's nervousness, but instead of getting angry, replied, "you're not the first one to notice."

Relieved that Vitani hadn't taken her statement the wrong way, Majana remembered something else, "I don't think Kovu likes Alex very much."

"Not yet," Vitani admitted, "but Kiara and I are going to do something about that today."

"You are," Majana asked, "can I come too?"

"I don't think so," Vitani replied, then seeing her daughter's expression change, haven't you got something to do with Kanuni?"

"Well, yeah, but..." Majana said.

"And if you two can't find something to do on your own I'm sure Alex's friends wouldn't mind helping out."

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	13. Working things out

I don't own any of the characters.

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"So what's happening this morning," Alex asked Vitani when he was awake.

"Well I thought I might break you in with some cub-sitting," Vitani replied, "except that after talking to Kiara, I figure that might not be such a good idea."

"Why not," Alex asked, then thought about, "oh, Kovu."

"Yeah, Kovu," Vitani replied, "so instead of cub-sitting, Kiara and I have decided that you and he need to spend some time together, get better acquainted."

"Better acquainted," Alex asked, "but he doesn't like me."

"Hence the need to get better acquainted," Vitani said, "now stay here, I'll just go check on Kiara," then made her way over to the cave and looked in. Most of the lionesses had left, so it was just the two royal couples in there now. For a moment she considered just waiting, but then decided to make her presence known, and made a throat clearing sound.

Kiara, and indeed everyone else looked around at the sound, and the now queen smiled, "be there in a moment Vitani." Turning back to her parents, she asked, "so that's it then?"

"Seems so to me," Nala said, "Simba?"

"I think I'm ready to accept a single day as king again," Simba replied.

"Thanks guys," Kiara said, then turned to Kovu, "come on."

Vitani could see Kovu wasn't any happier with the arrangement than Alex had been, his steps slow and dragging, though he sped up a bit at Kiara's insistence. "Looks as though Alex isn't the only reluctant one," she said, as the two of them reached her.

"No he's not," Kiara replied, glancing at Kovu, "now let's get into this shall we?"

"Might as well," said a voice behind Vitani.

Vitani whirled to face Alex, and almost shouted, but got hold of herself. "Didn't I leave you down there," she asked.

"You did," Alex replied, "but we've got to go through this any which way haven't we?"

"Yes we do," Vitani said, then smiled a little at Alex, before turning to Kovu and Kiara, "we all ready then?"

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Vitani sighed in annoyance and glanced over at Kiara, whose own look of distemper was enough to make her avert her gaze. They were about half-way to the rock pile at the head of the gorge, and thus far, not a word had been spoken by either male, Alex was too nervous and Kovu was too suspicious. Finally, unable to keep it in any longer, asked, "Kovu, what's your problem?"

"Who says I have a problem," Kovu replied, "anyway, Alex hasn't said a word either."

"That's because he's soft," Vitani growled, "but you, you're acting as though mother was still alive."

"Okay, can we all just calm down a bit here," Kiara asked, knowing the conversation was going to go bad quickly if she didn't do something.

Kiara's words fell on deaf ears though, as Kovu, going dangerously quiet, asked "are you saying I'm paranoid?"

"You're certainly acting like it," Vitani replied.

Realising Kovu was near his breaking point, Kiara said, "That's more than enough, you two, pack it in."

Her words fell on deaf ears though, as Kovu began, "you had bette..."

"I said, enough," Kiara almost roared. Both Vitani and Kovu looked at her almost shaking in anger, their feud momentarily forgotten. "It's disgraceful," she went on after a few moments, "I don't know what's gotten into you two recently, but you're acting like little cubs, and I'm not going to put up with it any longer, is that understood?" Both nodded, but this wasn't sufficient to quell the queen's anger, because she repeated, almost growling now, "I said, 'is that understood'?"

"Yes Kiara," Kovu and Vitani said, glancing worriedly at each other, neither of them had ever seen the normally mild-mannered and playful queen this angry before.

"Good," Kiara said, "now let's all of just act nicely shall we?" There were a couple of tentative nods from the others, but no more than that, so she turned to Alex and asked, "you don't want to be king at all do you?"

"Who, me," Alex asked, after a few moments, "geez no, I don't want to be king, and even if I did I wouldn't know where to start." Admittedly, he had been called the King Of New York, but he was more-or-less sure it wasn't the same thing.

Kiara nodded at this, then turned to Kovu and raised an eyebrow. The king refused to meet her gaze, turning away and hanging his head for a moment, before going over to Alex, and saying, "welcome to the family," though he was obviously still not happy with it.

"Uh, thanks," Alex replied, refusing to look at Kovu, well aware that the king had been brow-beaten into his greeting.

Kiara had been watching closely as well, then turned to Vitani and inclined her head, encouraging her to follow, before walking a good distance away, out of hearing range, but still close enough to prevent anything from going too far.

Kovu glanced up as the lionesses walked away, then turned back to Alex, "if you so much as touch a hair on my mate..."

"Yeah, you'll kill me, I guessed that," Alex replied nervously, "thing is, if I do anything to Kiara ''tani' would probably kill me."

There was a moment of tension, then the slightest hints of a smile played across Kovu's face and he calmed down a bit, "that's possible, my sister 'can'..." then it clicked, 'tani?"

"Erm, yeah," Alex said, "she, uh, she said yesterday I could call her that."

Kovu's expression was unreadable. Alex's statement had set him somewhat more at ease than he'd let on, knowing both that the new lion was unambitious, and that he would in any case be prevented from making an attempt to take over. Nevertheless hearing the new arrival call his sister by her trusted pet name left him a little shaken so didn't change his tone or expression, but said, "very well, you and are going to be cub-sitting this afternoon."

"Cub-sitting," Alex asked, but a frown from Kovu cut him off, "great, great."

Kovu raised an eyebrow at Alex, who flinched back, then said, "come on."

"Well, things are looking up," Kiara murmured to Vitani as she saw the two lion approaching, Kovu most definitely in the lead, but with Alex nor far behind.

Vitani gave a curt nod, then unable to wait any longer, moved forward, bypassing Kovu on her way to Alex, "well?"

"Well, I will be cub-sitting this afternoon," Alex said, "along with Kovu." At this, Vitani looked around at the king, but managed to keep a scowl or frown off her face, it was a smaller concession than she'd hoped for, but it was at least more than she'd expected.

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	14. Settling accounts

I don't own any of the characters.

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Kovu hid it well, but he was less than happy when, even before reaching Pride Rock, they were joined by Marty, Melman and Gloria. As the zebra fell in step beside the lion, he asked, "so how'd everything go?"

"Oh, mostly alright," Alex replied.

"Only mostly," Gloria asked, glaring at Vitani for a moment, before giving Kovu a hard stare from behind his head.

"Oh believe me," Vitani replied, bringing Gloria's attention back to her, though she herself was staring hard at Kovu, "everything's going to be sorted out by tonight," although her tone was less certain and more threatening. This surprised the hippo, and made her realise, almost for the first time, just how much the lioness actually cared about Alex.

"Oh believe me," Kiara said, sounding less threatening, but more confident, "everything will be sorted out very soon."

"Good, stuff," Marty replied, not entirely certain about the dark tone in Vitani's voice.

"You're back then," Nala asked as Kiara and Kovu made their way up Pride Rock, followed at a distance by the others.

"Yes, we're back," Kiara replied.

"So how did it go," Simba asked.

"Oh, mostly alright," Kiara replied, "Kovu's going to teach Alex a bit about cub-sitting this afternoon."

"Is he now," Simba asked, "a hint of amusement in his voice, then turned to Kovu, "well since you're back already, I'd suggest you get on with your duties, and 'I'll' teach Alex about cub-sitting."

"Bu..." Kovu began staring at Simba, locking the older lion in a battle of wills but had to give in after a few moments, it didn't really matter, who taught Alex about cub-sitting, so long as it was done, "well, okay, but I'll expect a full report."

"And you'll get one," Simba replied, quirking an eyebrow at Kovu, and wondering why the young lion was still acting so standoffish.

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"That's odd, "Alex said to Vitani as he saw Kovu leave Pride Rock early that afternoon, "I thought we were going to be baby-sitting."

"That's certainly what you said," Vitani replied, "hang on, I'll just go and check." With that, she rose, and made her way over to Nala, "has there been a change of plans recently?"

"How d'you mean," Nala asked in reply.

"Well up until now Alex and I were under the impression that it was going to be he and Kovu who were cub-sitting," Vitani replied, "except now we've just seen Kovu leave."

"Oh, yes there 'has' been a change of plans," Nala replied, "Simba's going to be teaching Alex cub-sitting."

"Ah, right," Vitani said, "well that'll be better for Alex."

"I think that was one of the reasons Simba insisted," Nala replied.

"Mm," Vitani said, paused a moment, then went on, "Simba certainly seems to have accepted him fast."

"Well he does set a fair amount of store by his cousin," Nala replied, smiling, "but I think the main reason is because he knows what it's like."

"Knows what what's like," Vitani asked.

"Being nervous of company," Nala replied, "not knowing how to react."

"Simba being nervous," Vitani asked, "I find that hard to believe."

"Oh believe me, he was," Nala replied, then her voice went slightly wistful as she recalled her memories, "even after he'd beaten Scar and we'd accepted him, those of us who did, it still took him about half-a-moon to talk to anyone but Sarabi or myself."

"Why's that," Vitani asked. This was a side of Simba she'd never known about before, and it was intriguing to know that there had been a time even the former king had been nervous and awkward.

"He'd grown up in the jungle with Timon and Pumbaa," Nala replied, "so to go from that to what this place was like when he took over was a big change." She thought a moment, then added, "besides, he was used to an easy life, no cares or worries, whereas the rest of had struggled to survive, it just made him uncomfortable and nervous."

"I never knew that," Vitani replied, "I mean, as long as I've known him he's always been so, royal, you know, confident and in control."

"I must admit, it's not something that gets talked about a lot," Nala replied, "those of us who do remember it aren't particularly eager to talk about it, in the same way that we try not to talk about Zira too much."

"Ah, right," Vitani said, "well I guess I'd better get back to Alex then, I'm sure the news will help a bit."

"I'm fairly certain as well," Nala said, "now go on."

"So what's going on," Alex asked when Vitani finally returned.

"Oh, Simba's doing the cub-sitting now," Vitani replied, "which ought to be an improvement from your point of view."

"Well, maybe," Alex said, "I mean, he 'seems' quite friendly, but I don't know."

"Oh believe me, if he seems it, he is," Vitani replied, "none of the males around here are much good at hiding their emotions."

"So you think it'll go pretty well then," Alex asked.

"Well unless you're totally incompetent and antisocial I can't see it going any other way," Vitani replied.

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"So, uh, what's the basic rundown of this cub-sitting then," Alex asked Simba, glancing momentarily at the cubs, who were eyeing him with varying degrees of suspicion and curiosity. The lionesses had gone hunting, and his friends had taken their leave and left him alone to learn some of the intricacies of the pride lifestyle.

"How much experience have you had with, youngsters before," Simba asked. He'd originally been going to say 'cubs' but remembered in time Marty's somewhat depressing story of Alex's upbringing.

"Not a lot," Alex replied, "I mean, Marty's a couple of years older than me, Gloria's about my age, but I never really had anything to do with her till adolescence, and Melman transferred as an adult."

"Mm-hm," Simba said, thinking, "well there's not really that much to it really, just stop them from running off, and discipline them if they're bullying."

"Seems simple enough then," Alex said, then added tentatively, "well, apart from the discipline."

"I can handle that," Simba said, in silent agreement that Kovu would probably be unhappy if Alex were to discipline the cubs at this stage, then smiled momentarily at the look of relief the other lion gave him. After a few silent, still moments he turned to the cubs, and asked, "no one up for a game then?" A couple of cubs looked at him, then returned their gaze to the new lion.

"Slow start," Alex said, carefully trying to avoid the cub's gaze.

"Apparently so," Simba replied, "still, slow's better than nothing I suppose," then added silently, 'and at least they're not hiding.'

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	15. Humans return

I don't own any of the characters apart from Amara (Swahili for 'help').

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It was early afternoon as the pride lay back to digest its recent meal. Several months had passed since Alex and his friends had arrived, and despite the rocky start, things had settled down nicely. The afternoon's peace wasn't to last though, for at that moment Amara arrived, "sire, urgent news."

Kovu sighed, and asked, "what is it Amara?" He wasn't actually particularly eager to know, but he was the king so he'd have to deal with it sooner or later anyway.

"There's a disturbance to the north," Amara replied, slightly nervously, "it's, uh, it's very odd sire, unlike anything I've ever seen before frankly..."

This got Kovu's attention, and the king said, "go on."

"Well," Amara began, wondering exactly how to describe what he'd seen.

"Could it be humans," Vitani asked.

Amara, turned to Vitani in surprise, "the thought had crossed my mind, but I must admit, with my lack of firsthand experience..."

"Humans, here," Kovu asked, looking at Vitani, "is that likely?"

"More likely than any other option I can think of," Vitani replied, rising, "are we going to check it out."

Kovu thought about saying no, but one glance at Vitani's face changed his mind, "yes, I think we'd better."

"Glad you agree," Vitani said, then walked over to Alex, "come on lazy-bones."

"Mm," Alex said, "wha'."

"I said, come on," Vitani repeated, shaking Alex.

"Why," Alex asked, then snorted when Vitani hit him, "what was that for?"

"Disobedience," Vitani replied tersely, 'now get up or I'll hit you again."

"Okay, okay, I'm up," Alex said, rising, and yawning, "what's going on anyway?"

"Explain on the way," Vitani replied, "now come on,"

Things must be quite bad, Alex decided as he followed Vitani and Kovu north away from Pride Rock, it'd been over a month, no, a moon, since she'd last even been irritated with him. Speeding up a bit to draw level with them, he asked, "so what exactly is going on?"

"Humans," Vitani replied.

"Oh, right," Alex said, "and you couldn't have told me this before, because..."

"I, wasn't thinking straight," Vitani replied, "I was panicking a moment."

"Ah," Alex said, understanding.

Misunderstanding Alex's statement, Vitani glared at him and said, "look, I just don't want anyone else to go through what I went through, okay?"

"Okay, I get that," Alex said, "but why'd you jump down my throat when I didn't even mention it?"

"Vitani was silent a moment, then said, "I didn't mean to." At this, Alex and Kovu shared a look, seeing the lioness in this state was worrying to both of them.

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"It's humans alright," Vitani said, as she and Alex reported back to Kovu, who'd stayed back a little way so as not to attract attention, "quite a few..." there was roar from the camp, "what the heck was that?"

"One of the jeeps I..." Alex replied, before stopping, realising Vitani wasn't there, "...think." He looked over at Kovu questioningly, who nodded indicated the direction she'd taken, then took the lead. They caught up with her not very far away. The jeep hadn't left the camp proper, but as they watched it, there was some calling, and then another man got in and it started off.

The calling was unintelligible to either Kovu or Vitani, but not to Alex, "oh, that's not good."

"What's not good," Vitani asked.

"They're headed for Pride Rock," Alex replied, "or at..."

"You can understand them," Kovu asked suspiciously, "you never told us this."

"I didn't think it was important," Alex replie,d "besides..."

"Enough," Vitani hissed, "are you sure it's Pride Rock?"

"Well they talked about a big rock," Alex replied, "and from here Pride Rock would seem to me to be the only one to fit the bill."

Vitani glanced at Kovu, who shrugged, "good enough for me."

"Okay," Kovu said, agreeing, "now let's go." They moved back some distance, before Kovu called "Amara."

"Sire," Amara replied, swooping down.

"Go to Pride Rock and tell them to get out, meet me us at the water hole," Kovu replied, "and hurry, I don't know how fast that thing can go."

"At once, sire," Amara said, taking off.

Kovu watched Amara departing for a few moments, then turned to the others, "come on, we'd better go ourselves."

"Not likely," Vitani replied, "Kovu, you get to the pride and get them to safety, Alex, go and get the others, I think we're going to need their power." Then she turned and ran off

"What," Kovu said, taken aback by Vitani's sudden action, then called after here, "where are you going?"

"To stop that jeep," Vitani called back, her voice already growing faint.

Both Kovu and Alex stared after her for a moment, before the latter turned, and said, "well, er, good luck," before taking off himself.

Kovu snapped back to reality, but Alex was already gone. He considered going after him for a moment, but decided against it, they might well need his friends. Cursing Vitani's bravado a moment, then offering a silent prayer that she'd be okay, he headed off himself.

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Vitani caught up with the jeep sooner than she expected, the lumps and bumps in the Pridelands terrain didn't mean much to her, but they would have been uncomfortable to the jeep's passengers had they been going much faster.

Of course, catching the jeep up and actually stopping it were two completely different things, and while the former had been easy enough, Vitani considered the latter would be much harder, and she was right, though not in the way she'd imagined it.

Vitani's first, momentary plan was to leap on top of the vehicle, but then she decided against, this wasn't as Alex had described, a normal animal, or even an abnormal one, and at this size her weight wouldn't make too much difference. She then considered and discarded several more plans before finally developing one she thought promising.

Running out a little way ahead of the jeep, Vitani then turned and, waiting a moment, leapt. Her hope had been that she could scare the jeep into stopping or turning away, and in fact this is what the driver attempted to do, but in his moment of panic, his foot missed the brake and came down on the accelerator.

Vitani saw the vehicle charge forward, and attempted to manoeuvre, but it was useless, her paws could get no grip on the polished bonnet. For the lioness the world went white as she hit the windscreen, then reality blurrily for a moment, as she penetrated, before going black.

The driver brought the jeep to a spot, finally having found the brake, but that was the limit of his action, he could not put the handbrake on or take the vehicle out of gear because a lioness was lying across the centre console, and he was far too panicked to try turning the vehicle off. Beside the driver, the passenger was also shaken, but a little less so, and managed to at least grab the radio, "camp, send out a truck, and make sure it has a trank gun..."

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	16. Further disappearances

I don't own any of the characters apart from Amili (Swahili for 'guide'), Najiri (Swahili for 'emigrate'), Amara (Swahili for 'help') and Majana (Swahili for 'child').

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Alex was getting more and more distraught the further he ran. In the beginning he'd simply been obeying an instruction from Vitani, something he'd got more-or-less used to, but now he actually had time to think it was driving him crazy. Why had she gone out alone he wondered, driving himself faster and harder than he ought to, there was no way she could stop the jeep alone, it was practically suicidal. Nevertheless, he needed his friends, and so forced himself onwards.

Marty looked up as something caught his eye, and saw Alex slow down and stop, and knew immediately that something was wrong. "Geez, you look exhausted, he said, approaching the gasping lion, "what the heck's up?"

"Vitani," Alex managed between gasps, "humans." After a few moments and a few more gasps, he said, "come on."

"Wow, hold up there," Marty said, "you mean to tell me humans are around here?" Alex nodded, and the zebra saw an anxious look in his friend's eyes, "so why aren't you with here."

"Told me," Alex gasped, "get you."

At this, Marty looked around at Amili and Melman for confirmation. Najiri was out browsing at the moment, and Gloria was down at the wallows, so he did have a slightest doubt in his mind, but it was expelled when both of them nodded. Returning his gaze to Alex he replied, "well Najiri and Gloria aren't in at the moment, b..."

"I don't care," Alex growled, "are you coming or not?"

"Yeah, yeah, we're coming Marty replied. Alex' growl had taken him aback, it had been a long time since Alex had last growled at him, and made him aware of just how strong the bond between him and Vitani was, at least from his side.

They set out, Alex in the lead, but as time wore on exhaustion began to take him, but nevertheless, the others were surprised at just how hard he was pushing himself.

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Kovu was less exhausted than Alex had been when he reached the water hole, but nevertheless even he was breathing hard. "Kovu, what's going on," Kiara asked, when he'd recovered a bit.

"It's humans alright," Kovu replied, "no doubt about it."

"And where's mother," Majana asked.

Kovu licked his lips for a moment, before replying, "a few of the humans were headed for pride rock, so I sent Amara back to tell everyone to get out." He paused a moment, then added, "Vitani raced off to try to stop them reaching Pride Rock, and she sent Alex away to get his friends."

"So you left her out there," Majana said, accusatorily.

"She was off before I could stop her," Kovu replied, though knowing in his heart that Majana was right, "besides, my duty is to the whole pride, and right now the pride is here."

Majana continued to glare for a few moments. She knew Kovu was right, or at least, if he wasn't it was far too late to do anything about it, but she couldn't help feeling betrayed, and so after a few seconds, jerked her head away and stalked off.

Kovu stared after Majana for a few moments, before turning away and sighing, and suddenly finding himself face to face with Simba, "Simba."

"You know, you could have handled that better," Simba replied.

"Yeah, I know," Kovu said, then looked over at Majana, "but I don't think now is really the time."

Simba considered this for a few moments, before agreeing, "you're right, this is neither the time nor the place to discuss these matters." Kovu breathed a sigh of relief, but only temporarily, as the former king added, "but later we 'will' discuss such matters."

Kovu nodded nervously, before making a decision, and saying, "let's get somewhere safer than here now though."

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Marty was getting Worried as he, Melman and Amili followed Alex towards what was presumably the human camp. He'd never seen his friend push himself so hard, and it made him realise the bond that had grown there. Once or twice he thought about reminding the lion that he'd be doing Vitani no good by arriving exhausted and distraught, but then decided against it.

Melman, with slightly less forethought, said, "I hesitate to ask, but what are we going to do when we arrive at the human encampment?"

Alex was silent for a moment, before replying coldly, "tear the place apart 'til we find Vitani." Melman fell silent at this, not because he was satisfied with the reply, he was far from it in fact, but he was also nervous of and for his friend, he'd never seen him in this state before.

Soon enough they were within sight of the human camp, at least for Melman and Amili, and it was at this point that Marty tripped Alex, sending the lion sprawling to the ground.

"Why'd you..." Melman started to ask, but stopped short when Marty glared at him.

As Alex hit the ground reality returned, though it was barely better than the waking nightmare he'd been experiencing moments before. Whereas before he'd imagined Vitani roaring at her confinement and clawing futilely at a crate till her paws were bloody, now, in reality he saw nothing but a few inches of terrain that was already fading to indigo, and heard only his own blood pounding in his ears.

As, Marty Melman and Amili were worried about, and therefore focussed on Alex, they didn't notice the humans until a dart hit Marty in the haunch "yow."

Melman turned to take Amili away from the danger, but it was already too late as a dart hit him in the shoulder, and moments later she took on in the thigh.

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"Okay, is everyone here, is everyone okay," Kovu asked when the pride reached its new, temporary refuge at the rock pile at the top of the gorge, still a landmark, but much smaller than Pride Rock, and much further from the humans as well.

Making a tour of the pride in addition to his question, Kovu was relieved to see that everything seemed to be in order, until Nala and Kanuni approached him, "Majana's missing."

"Oh great," Kovu murmured not quite under his breath. He'd hoped this wouldn't happen, but he'd been half expecting it, "okay, what happened?"

"It was about half way in I think," Nala began, "Majana had been talking to me for most of it, I though to take her mind off things." Kovu nodded grimly as the former queen went on, "anyway, she suddenly said she wanted to talk to Kanuni."

"And then she disappeared," Kovu guessed.

"Um, no," Kanuni replied, "we talked for a bit, well, I did anyway, she seemed a bit out of it really." He saw Kovu's look, and said, "anyway, after a while she said she had some things to deal with, and left."

"And that was when she disappeared," Kovu guessed.

"Yeah, I think so," Kanuni said, then sucked his lip, unsure of what Kovu was going to say.

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	17. Captive thoughts

I don't own any of the characters apart from Amili (Swahili for 'guide'), Najiri (Swahili for 'emigrate'), Amara (Swahili for 'help') and Majana (Swahili for 'child').

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Vitani awoke with a groan, which was hardly surprising given that she had a splitting headache and her neck was stiff and sore. Moments later she amended her problems, her neck was stiff and sore till she tried to move it, at which point it went straight to agonising. Her memories of her last few conscious moments were confused, she could remember running flat into, well, a rock of some sort, or so it felt, but it had been clear, like water...

Vitani quickly stopped thinking about those thoughts though, as her headache seemed to double. Suddenly, she heard a noise off to the side, and, forgetting her neck for a moment, turned to look. She didn't forget it for long though, as the pain returned, and in greater force. Her last conscious though before blacking out from the pain was 'that was dumb'.

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Kovu cursed himself silently as he loped back towards the human camp, hoping to achieve the impossible, but knowing, or at least suspecting that it would be a wasted effort. This was confirmed when Amara, having already visited the human camp, approached, and said with some urgency, "sire."

"Majana's been captured hasn't she," Kovu asked grimly, coming to a stopping.

"She has," Amara replied, equally grimly.

"And the chances of getting her out are..." Kovu asked, hoping for a positive answer, but not really expecting one.

"I wouldn't put them very high," Amara replied, "the whole pride might manage it, but I doubt less would be able to.

"Mm," Kovu murmured, looking away. Amara was apprehensive, wondering what the king would do, and so, jumped when he said, "Amara."

"Y-yes sire," Amara replied.

"Go and tell Simba what's happened," Kovu replied, looking off into the distance.

"At once sire," Amara said, then hesitated, "and yourself sire?"

"Tell them..." Kovu thought for a few more moments before replying, "tell them I'll be joining them shortly."

"Yes sire," Amara said, taking off, leaving Kovu contemplating his next move.

Kovu didn't acknowledge Amara's departure, he was too wrapped up in his own thoughts, primary among those being the feelings of guilt and self-loathing. Now two members of his pride were missing, and he was responsible for at least one of them.

It was some time before Kovu returned to reality, and even longer before he plucked up the courage to return to the rest of the pride.

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So this was what it was like, Majana thought as she sat in the cage, this was what it felt like to be totally constrained, unable to move around. It wasn't actually quite as bad as mother had said, but then again, she knew sort of what to expect, or thought she did, and this went at least some way to helping her stay calm.

Not, Majana knew, that is was going to be an easy ride by any measure of means, she'd be in here and alone for a good few days, and that would test her sanity, indeed it would test the sanity of any lion. Nor was that the only problem, for although she was certain of the basics of what would happen, there was still a lot of fine detail that she knew she couldn't know about. Nothing would happen for a while yet though, and so, still a little muzzy from whatever they'd used to knock her out, she lay down to while away a little time with a nap.

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Alex lay curled up in his cage, despairing. One reason he was despairing, though not the major one, was that he was getting quite settled into life in the Pridelands, whether it be watching the cubs, spending time with his friends, or a long secluded walk with Vitani.

Thoughts of Vitani sent Alex into another cycle of despair, he had no way of knowing whether the favourite lioness in his life was free, or a prisoner like himself, or even, and his heart chilled at the though, if she was dead. Not, he imagined, that being alive would be much better from her point of view, she would either be trapped in a cage, which would stress her a whole lot, or she'd have to live without him, which, he knew from her stories and those of the rest of the pride, she'd struggle with if she really managed it.

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Well, here we go again, Marty thought sourly. He'd really been enjoying it here in the Pridelands, enjoying the freedom that came with no boundaries, either physical or psychological, the freedom to go where he liked and do what he wanted to. Now of course he was headed back to captivity, probably a zoo, and all the limitations it entailed, small spaces, crowds of people, and likely none of his friends around.

On top of this, Marty was feeling a bit guilty, not about having knock Alex down, he still considered he'd had to do it for his friend's own safety. He was feeling guilty for not knocking him down a bit earlier though, and for not telling Melman and Amili to stay back till they were sure it was safe.

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Melmam shuffled his hooves as he stood in the cage, which was so small it was one of the few movements left to him. He should have seen it coming, he really should. He was, after all, the largest and most obvious of the group, he should have known that the humans would notice him and come over to investigate. Admittedly, Amili was almost as big as he was, but she didn't have his experience with humans, so she wouldn't have known what was coming. "I'm sorry Amili," he murmured, "I'm really sorry about all of this."

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Amili looked around distractedly, though there was nothing to really see in this, well, hide cave would probably be the best word for it. There were some interesting sounds filtering in from outside, but with only a small slit of light coming in at about shoulder level she hadn't the slightest idea what was actually going on out there. For all that the sounds were interesting though, she wasn't focussing on them, preferring instead to think.

The first and primary thought on Amili's mind was of her father Najiri. He'd always been overprotective, ever since mother disappeared, and now she'd disappeared too... Turning her mind away from the morbid thought of what might be her father's demise, and onto thoughts of her own future. She'd heard Melman and his friends talk about their own experiences with the humans, and she wondered if her experiences would be similar

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	18. Carnivore conversations

I don't own any of the characters apart from Amili (Swahili for 'guide'), Majana (Swahili for 'child'), Mwenzi (Swahili for 'accomplice') and Chokoza (Swahili for 'bully').

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Many days, perhaps even weeks passed as the six friends, each separated from the others and unaware of their fate, were transported across the vast stretches of terrain to their destination.

As they unknowingly neared the first part of their journey Vitani was getting impatient. The lioness may not have bothered too much before about measuring any time more than a day and less than a moon, but she was sure the journey was taking longer this time than it had the last.

Finally though, they reached the first major stop on their journey, though it was not an airport this time, but rather a seaport.

More time passed as the animals were transferred from their travelling cages to the easier to load crates, and then finally the loading of the ship began. Vitani and her friends were not the only ones on this journey though, and so, unknown to them, they would be in two sections, one for the carnivores one for the herbivores.

Of the carnivores, Majana was the first to be loaded, and followed not by her mother or Alex, but by someone else, who called out, "Chokoza, Cho', are you there sis?" When there was no reply, the new arrival repeated, more urgently, "Chokoza." A crate bumped down, but the other individual seemed to ignore it, and almost shouted, "Chokoza!"

"Yeah," A voice replied, at almost the same volume, then dropped to a more reasonable level, "yeah, I'm here Mwenzi, you can stop shouting." Normally she'd have chastised him for that sort of outburst, but after the days spent alone she simply couldn't bring herself to do it.

"Chokoza," Mwenzi said, relief flooding his voice, "it's good to hear you again sis'."

"And you too, 'Wen'," Chokoza replied, sounding more than a bit relieved herself.

"Where are we anyway," Mwenzi asked, as another crate bumped down, "where are we going?"

"I haven't the slightest clue," Chokoza replied, "although given what we've been through so far, I wouldn't put good odds on it getting better."

"Probably a wise bet," said the new arrival, who Majana immediately recognised as her mother, "last time I went through this it wasn't exactly pleasant."

"You've been through this before," Chokoza asked as another crate bumped down.

"More-or-less," Vitani replied, "I mean, not this 'exactly', but close enough."

"So where are we going then," Chokoza asked.

"Well if it's anything like last time it's going to be like the Outlands, but grey and cold," Vitani replied.

"Colour I ain't too bothered about," Chokoza replied, "but how cold?"

"Shivering Cold," Vitani replied, "although they've got these things that can keep small areas warm."

"Yeah, they're called heaters," said a new voice that could only have been Alex.

"Alex," Vitani said, suddenly a lot happier, "I was beginning to wonder if you'd made it."

"I could've said the same about you," Alex replied, "what happened to you anyway?"

"I tried to stop that vehicle," Vitani replied, "I think I did as well, except not quite the way I'd intended."

"How did you do it then," Alex asked.

"Well you know that clear stuff on the front," Vitani said, "gluss or whatever it's called."

"Glass, yeah, I got you," Alex said, "so what?"

"I went through it head-first," Vitani replied.

"You what," Alex asked, "geez, are you okay?"

"Neck's still a bit stiff," Vitani replied, "other than that, yeah, pretty much."

"Thank gods," Alex said, sounding extremely relieved, "d'you know how dangerous that could have been?"

"Can't have been more dangerous than hunting," Vitani replied, "after all, if you make a mistake with hunting going hungry is the least of your worries."

"Well, maybe not 'that' dangerous then," Alex said, "but it can leave you brain damaged."

"Well it didn't this time," Vitani replied.

"Luckily," Alex said.

"Okay, what was all that about," Chokoza asked, after a few moments, "most of it sounded like nonsense to me."

"You probably wouldn't understand it," Vitani replied, "heck, I didn't really understand half or it, and I went through it."

"Yeah well maybe we're a whole lot smarter than you," Mwenzi said, "even thought of that?"

"'Wen', shut up," Chokoza sighed.

"But..." Mwenzi began.

"I said, shut up," Chokoza repeated, growling, "not only was that insulting it was out-and-out wrong, I know because I've 'eaten' things smarter than you." Mwenzi muttered something, but it was ignored, "sorry about that, my brother can be a bit of an idiot at times."

"Don't worry, I know the type," Vitani replied.

"How's that," Chokoza asked lightly, "you had a brother as well?"

"Pretty much," Vitani replied, "although I suppose he wasn't so much dumb as neurotic."

"Sounds pretty bad," Chokoza said, "what was his name?"

"Nuka," Vitani replied. In the sudden, oppressive silence that followed, she asked, "what, what's up?"

"You're a lioness aren't you," Chokoza said, her voice still somewhat civilised, but also holding a hint of threat.

"Yes I am," Vitani replied warily, "you have a problem with that?"

"A little," Chokoza replied, then added, "can you guess what we are?"

Vitani considered the statement for a few moments before it hit her, and she said "hyena?"

"You got it," Chokoza said coldly.

Everything was silent for a few moments, then Vitani said sarcastically, "well I can see this trip's going to be a whole load of fun."

"I won't disagree with you on that," Chokoza said, then chuffed, "it's the only thing I won't disagree with you on."

"Um, I know this may seem like a stupid question," Alex said, "but why do lions and hyenas hate each other?"

"Because you..." Mwenzi began.

"Mwenzi, shut up," Chokoza interrupted quickly.

"But..." Mwenzi began.

"I said, shut up," Chokoza repeated fiercely, and was about to go on when Vitani interrupted her.

"Alex, I already told you why we hate them," Vitani growled, "weren't you listening then?"

"Oh I was listening alright," Alex replied, a touch defensive, "but what I heard sounded more like an excuse than a reason."

While Vitani was struck dumb, Chokoza spoke up," you don't know much about us do you Alex?"

"There weren't any hyenas where I grew up, no," Alex replied, "mind you where I grew up probably couldn't consider normal, so that won't be the only hole in my education."

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	19. Long journey

I don't own any of the characters apart from Majana (Swahili for 'child'), Mwenzi (Swahili for 'accomplice') and Chokoza (Swahili for 'bully').

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Vitani was sleeping peacefully in her crate when the ship's horn jarred her awake, "what in hxxl's name was that?"

"That was the horn," Alex said, "I thought you knew that."

"The horn," Vitani seemed confused for a moment, then went on, "oh, right, well it's one thing hearing it when you're awake, but it's quite another when it wakes you up."

"Oh, did the little kitty-cat get disturbed," asked Mwenzi mockingly.

"You shut-up," Vitani growled.

"Agreed," Chokoza said, "keep your trap shut bro." Strange as it might have seemed, she'd built up a certain respect for Vitani, and perhaps a little for Alex as well, though her brother obviously hadn't followed her lead.

"But..." Mwenzi began.

"I said, keep it shut," Chokoza repeated. After a moment she added, "where are we anyway?"

"Haven't a clue," Vitani replied, "Alex?"

There was a bit of scuffling from Alex's crate, and then he said, "sorry, only direction I can see is backwards, which is pretty much open sea."

At this Vitani tried to look out of the holes in her own crate, "a lot of sea, maybe some land in the distance, but that's it."

"So no-one's got any idea where we're going," Chokoza asked, "'great'."

More time passed, then Mwenzi asked, "hey, d'you hear that?"

"Hear what 'Wen'," Chokoza asked.

"I just heard something," Mwenzi said, then sounded a bit doubtful, "at least I think I did."

"Wait a minute though," Vitani interrupted, "I think I hear something as well." There was absolute silence for a few moments, then she went on, "okay, I got 'vagabond shoes', 'longing to stray' and 'heart of it', that mean anything to you Alex?"

"Does it ever," Alex said, sounding almost exhilarated, "we're home, or I am anyway, this is New York."

"New York," Mwenzi asked, "what's that?"

"It's where I used to live," Alex replied, "geez, I wonder if the zoo'll be the same."

"Who says we're headed for Central Park or whatever you call it," Vitani asked, "didn't Melman come from a different zoo?"

"True, true," Alex said, his exhilaration slightly less, "but even so, I know where I am now."

"And that helps how exactly," Chokoza asked.

"It's just-I just find it a bit more reassuring okay," Alex said, a touch defensively.

"Eh, whatever," Chokoza said, unconvinced.

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Having only one previous example to work from, Vitani considered that the docking and unloading went fairly routinely, and having not the slightest idea how big New York was, it wasn't until some time into the journey that she began to get concerned about the future, surely it shouldn't take 'this' long to get to the zoo, any zoo, in the city.

In this wild guess Vitani was correct, she and the others were no longer in New York, but instead on an interstate highway, though from her perspective it was just an open area with more 'cars' and 'trucks' than she'd ever seen in one place.

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By the time the massive road journey ended in Toronto, Alex was feeling practically numb from the cold. Spring was coming on, but the temperature, at several degrees below freezing, was still closer to winter, and so despite his relative acclimatisation for these sorts of temperatures, the lion was still shivering cold.

Eventually though, the journey 'was' over, and one wall of his crate was raised, allowing Alex to plod out. Taking a quick look around the enclosure he was too cold to really take in details, though one blob up the other end of the enclosure was interesting enough to catch his attention.

Moving over to investigate, Alex discovered that the blob was actually Vitani, who was so numb from the cold that she'd barely been able to make it the length of the enclosure, and was now almost comatose from a combination of the cold, and from not having slept a wink on the entire journey because of it.

Worried about Vitani though he was, Alex wasn't sure what he could do, and so did what he thought was best, laying down beside her and draping a forelimb across her shoulder.

Of course, Vitani and Alex weren't the only lions to come to Toronto, and indeed, within a few minutes, Majana had also staggered out of her crate. Being even smaller than her mother, the young lioness didn't even manage to reach the others before the cold and exhausting journey overtook her and she collapsed in a heap.

The situation was none too different with the other new arrivals, the long journey, combined with the very chilly ambient temperatures had taken a real toll, and within half-an-hour of arriving they were all asleep.

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Vitani snorted, and slowly awoke. Her first conscious thought was that something heavy was lying across her shoulder. She looked down to see the 'something' was a leg, and tracing it back, she smiled to find it belonged to Alex. Now aware of the lion's presence, she returned his gesture, draping her own foreleg across his neck, and then, of a whim, began to nuzzle him.

Alex twitched as Vitani laid her leg over him, and snorted when she nuzzled him. "Mm," he murmured, then a few moments later cracked his eyes open a fraction and murmured, "wha'."

"Wakey wakey Alex," Vitani said, and nuzzled him again.

After another moment or two Alex was awake enough to say, "oh, s'you 'Tani."

"That's right," Vitani said, "it's good to see you again Alex."

"And you, excuse me," Alex said, turning his head towards the roof, and assaying a massive yawn, a move which Vitani copied, "how are you feeling anyway?"

"Cold, a bit tired," Vitani replied, "what about you?"

"About the same," Alex replied.

"Really," Vitani asked, "I thought you grew up with temperatures like that?"

"I may have grown up with temperatures colder than you're used to," Alex replied, "but I'm pretty sure that was even colder."

"Colder than you're used to," Vitani said, "geez, I hope they have plenty of heaters here then."

"Yeah, me too," Alex said.

"Still, we don't need them now," Vitani said, "come on, let's get up."

"Do we have to," Alex asked, "I mean, it's not as though anything's going to happen in the next few minutes."

"Typical lazy male," Vitani said trying not very hard or successfully to feign disgust, then began to rise herself, "come on up y...who's that?"

"What," Alex asked, then rolled over to see what Vitani was looking at, "I have no idea who that is, she must have come in after me."

"Well I want to know who she is," Vitani said, rising fully, "come on."

This time Alex rose without protest, just a few paces behind Vitani. The lioness was no more than an adolescent, and approaching her, she became very familiar, "isn't that..."

"Yes, Majana," Vitani cut in, her expression unreadable.

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	20. Quarantine

I don't own any of the characters apart from Amili (Swahili for 'guide'), Majana (Swahili for 'child'), Mwenzi (Swahili for 'accomplice') and Chokoza (Swahili for 'bully').

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"Nngh," Mwenzi murmured, cracking his eyes open a fraction and looking around. He was feeling cold, not quite 'shaking' cold as he had been on the journey, but still cooler than he was used to. Blearily looking around, he wasn't in any real mind to think about his surroundings, still half asleep.

Eventually Mwenzi became aware he was lying on something lumpy, and curious looked down to see what it was, drawing breath and struggling to dislodge himself when he realised it was Chokoza.

"Mm," Chokoza said, when Mwenzi struggled. Cracking her own eyes open, she murmured, "wha', oh s'y'u," then yawned, "oh, 't's you 'Wen, arrived have we?"

"I, uh, I think so," Mwenzi said, looking around, "but it's nothing like that lion said."

"Uh-huh," Chokoza said, looking around. Their current location indeed looked nothing like any of the 'enclosures' Alex had talked about, but it 'did' look something like that place Vitani had described as being put for about a moon, before moving onto the enclosure. "Maybe this isn't the enclosure," she said, voicing her thoughts, "remember the lioness said she was put somewhere else first, then moved on."

"Well how long are we going to be in here for then," Mwenzi asked.

"I have no idea," Chokoza replied, "hopefully not longer than the lioness was the last time, but beyond that, no idea."

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The first thing Marty became aware of when he awoke was the throbbing pain in his side, which he'd bruised badly after all but falling over when he'd emerged from the crate. He shifted a little, trying to ease the pain, but the action instead sent spurts of agony through his side, shocking him out of his drowsy state.

Now fully awake, Marty began to take stock of his situation, at least, as much as he could do lying very still on his side. As far as he could tell at first glance, he was alone in a building of some sort, which was confusing, until he remembered that Vitani had gone through something similar when she arrived at Central Park.

After a few more moments, Marty finally decided that he'd have to face the music, or the pain at least, and try getting up because lying here was getting boring. Of course, he'd probably be almost as bored standing up, but at least then he'd be able to move around.

Even though Marty had braced himself he was almost overcome, the pain when he moved felt like his whole side was on fire. Eventually though, agonisingly, he was able to roll onto his belly, and took a moment to rest, and to look at his side. His flank looked no better than it had felt, for while his fur hid the bruises, his scrabbling had skinned a good portion of it, which was now welling up with blood.

Marty sighed as he looked away from his side, he couldn't spend all day worrying about it, although after a quick glance around he reconsidered, wherever he was wasn't big, and wasn't interesting, just a big concrete room with a metal door at one end, and after another glance, a bed of what on investigation turned out to be hay.

Having explored the totality of his surroundings, Marty decided to try to get comfortable on the hay. Getting down was a little trickier than he expected, what with trying to avoid putting too much stress on his side, but eventually he made it.

Not that lying down helped that much though, Marty thought after a while. Oh, sure it helped the pain in his side a little, but as time ticked by, he began to grow bored, and wondered how long he was going to be in here, and whether he was still going to be sane when he got out.

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Amili awoke to the feeling of an odd pressure on her side. Still muzzy, and thus, not realising she was leaning against the wall, she turned to see what was causing the pressure. The impact was hard enough to jar her fully awake, and also to leave her muzzle painfully bruised, "yow!"

"Mm," said Melman nearby, raising his head, "wha' oh, s'you 'Mili."

"Yes, it's me," Amili replied, grimacing at the pain in her muzzle.

Melman looked as though he was about to speak, but then yawned. "How are you," he asked afterwards.

"Well apart from whacking my head against this wall," Amili replied, "mostly alright."

"You whacked your head against the wall," Melman asked, "why?"

"It wasn't a conscious decision, believe you me," Amili replied, "I was been leaning against it when I awoke." She paused a moment, then went on, "I guess it must have felt a bit odd, so I turned to look, and 'whack'."

Melman inhaled at the last word, "that must have been painful."

"It was," Amili replied, "oh, it was."

"So are you feeling better now," Melman asked, with a faint air of concern.

"Well it's still quite painful," Amili replied, "but I think that's it."

"Well that's a relief," Melman said, then flinched as Amili glared at him, "something of a relief anyway, I mena, at least you don't have concussion."

"Concussion," Amili asked, "what's that?"

"Well sometimes when you hit your head hard enough it can mess up your mind," Melman explained, "but I wouldn't worry, from what I've heard you'd have to knock yourself out before that's likely to happen."

"Oh, really," Amili said, "how d'you know all this stuff anyway?"

"I, I used to be quite sickly when I was young," Melman replied, in a not-very good attempt to lie about his hypochondria, "I grew out of it later though."

"Uh-huh," Amili said, knowing Melman was lying, but unwilling to press the issue, "well it's good that you got better."

"Yeah," Melman said nervously, then, to change the subject, said, "hey, are you hungry?"

"A little," Amili replied, "why, are you?"

"Well, a little bit, yeah," Melman replied, then ran this through in his mind, and closed his eyes, "I mucked that up didn't I?"

"A little bit, yes," Amili replied, then started to unfold her legs, "but come on, let's get up."

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"Mm," Majana murmured, cracking her eyes open. She shivered a moment, more at the memory of being cold than of actually being cold. Taking a few moments to let the muzziness clear from her, she then took a look around, quickly focussing on a nearby figure, "mother."

"Majana," Vitani replied, her tone neutral, but her face angry, "you have a lot to answer for young lady."

"Um, like what," Majana asked, knowing she was in trouble.

"Like running away from the pride," Vitani replied, "what were you thinking?"

"I was worried," Majana replied, "I was worried about you."

Vitani's expression softened for a moment, but only a moment, "when you've woken up a bit more you and I need to have a serious talk."

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	21. Just lion around

I don't own any of the characters apart from Majana (Swahili for 'child').

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Majana was worried as she approached her mother, who was talking with Alex, she knew she was in trouble, but she didn't know how much, "m-mother."

Vitani turned around cutting off Alex in mid-sentence, and answered coolly, "Majana."

"You, you wanted to talk to me," Majana said.

"I did," Vitani replied. There was a momentary pause, then she went on, "why did you run away?"

"I was worried, about you," Majana replied, but wasn't able to meet Vitani's harsh gaze.

"Don't lie to me Majana," Vitani replied, "we both know there was nothing you could have done for me, why did you really do it?"

Majana paused a moment, then replied sadly, "I was afraid to lose you again mum."

Vitani's expression softened for a moment, but not for long. "And the others," she asked.

"Others," Majana asked, "what others?"

"The rest of the pride 'others'," Vitani replied, "Kovu especially, but also Kiara, Simba, Nala, and what about Kanuni?"

As Vitani said the names Majana's ears flattened, and she lowered her head, for the first time feeling actual shame at her actions. "I'm sorry mum," she said lowly, when the elder lioness had finished, "I'll make it up to them."

"Yes you will," Vitani said coolly, "the first thing you do when you get back, the absolute first thing, will be to apologise to each and every one of them, understood?"

"Fully," Majana replied. Head still hung, the younger lioness didn't see her mother's approach, though she did feel her contact, "uh?"

"I'm glad you're okay," Vitani said levelly, but with a hint of warmth in her tone, "for all that I said before, I'm glad you're okay."

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By the end of the quarantine period everyone was feeling frazzled, especially Vitani, which was perhaps the reason that she was the first to venture into the 'feed-cage' that morning. Something felt different today, but she couldn't place it, and so she entered carefully, ready to bolt at any moment, but it wasn't enough, for as she picked up the meat and turned to exit, two plates crashed down in unison, blocking her off from the quarantine room, but also from Alex and Majana, "Majana, Alex!"

"Vitani," and, "mum," rang out together a moment later, though the cries were very slightly muffled by the plates covering much of the hole. She scratched desperately at the plate on the cage, but her claws slid uselessly down the hard metal surface.

Being as concentrated as she was on the two loves of her life, Vitani didn't become aware of humans approaching the cage until she felt the cage move. At the first wobble, the lioness looked around at the humans lifting the cage, and roared, trying to frighten them off, but the humans ignored her, and continued about their task, When the roar proved ineffective, she tried clawing at the seemingly thin wires of the cage to get at the humans, but again, met only hard metal which gave not a fraction.

"Vitani," Alex called, hearing her roar, "Vitani, are you alright?"

"What," Vitani said, not quite catching the question, "what was that?"

"I asked if you were alright" Alex said, hearing her voice getting slightly fainter.

"Fine, fine," Vitani replied, "they moving me, it just took me by surprise for a moment."

"Oh, right," Alex said, "we'll probably be joining you soon."

'I hope so,' Vitani thought, and then, with nothing else to do, turned to see where she was being taken. The first place she was taken, at least temporarily, was over to a flat-decked truck around the back. The truck started with a roar, which startled the lioness a moment, but then dropped to a low growl, but which rose slightly a few moments later when it began to move.

The journey turned out to be a fairly short one, but took a while due to the truck only travelling slowly, but this was fine by Vitani because it meant she got a good luck at her surroundings. At the other end of the journey, the lioness's cage was lifted off the back of the truck again, and moved around a corner before being placed down, and the door opened with grinding-squeaking sound.

Turning around, a somewhat difficult manoeuvre given the confines of the cage, Vitani stepped half-way through the hole and looked around. She was in a cave, if a cave could be square, which was separated into several sections by thinnish vertical branches, probably made of that 'metal' stuff. There was a hole on the other wall that she could get to, straw on the floor, and, she suddenly realised, a ledge right over her head, made of what looked to be wood and metal. From the smell of it, another pride slept in here as well, which made her wonder for a moment about the separation.

Feeling a bit more comfortable, Vitani took a few more steps into the cave, but turned, startled, when the door crashed down behind her. She pawed at it a moment, then stopped, the only thing that had been on the other side was the cage, and she was glad to be out of it. With nothing else to do, she decided to make a closer inspection of the cave. The first thing she investigated was the smell of the other lions, which turned out to be one male, four or five females, and a couple of adolescents, one of each gender.

Moving over to the other hole in the wall, Vitani found it covered with metal, just like the where the travelling cage had been, which left her wondering about her long-term prospects. Still, she decided after a few moments, there wasn't much she could do about it at the moment, so she instead tried to make herself as comfortable as possible by gathering as much straw as she could into a pile and lying down on it, waiting to see what, if anything, was going to happen in the near future.

Soon enough something did happen, as something thumped down on the other side of the hatch she'd come in through. Vitani shifted to see who else had arrived, but it was an unnecessary gesture as a moment later Alex came into the den, "Alex."

"Vitani," Alex replied, smiling as he came over to her, "made yourself comfortable I see."

"It isn't much," Vitani snorted, then a thought occurred to her, and with a touch of nervousness in her voice asked, "d'you think Majana will be here soon?"

"Oh, I'm sure of it," Alex replied, smiling as he lay down on the edge of the straw with her, "budge up a bit would you?"

"Sure thing," Vitani said, not so much moving as rolling over, and, when Alex moved closer again, she draped a foreleg across his shoulders, "I'm glad you're here with me."

"Wouldn't miss it for the world 'tani," Alex replied with a smile, "wouldn't miss it for the world."

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	22. New friends

I don't own any of the characters apart from Hannah, Mwenzi (Swahili for 'accomplice'), Chokoza (Swahili for 'bully') and Kenjala.

Marty looked up when he heard a scrapping sound, and saw that the passage that had been blocked when he first came into the, well, room, was now open, with daylight shining in. Inquisitive about what was outside, the zebra took one last cursory glance around the room he was in, then headed outside.

There was a chill in the air when Marty stepped outside, causing him to shiver for a moment as he looked around. The enclosure was actually quite roomy compared to his one at Central Park, although nothing like as big as the savannah, and nothing like as warm either. There were a number of other zebras standing around in small groups, but none particularly caught his attention until he saw, away in one corner, a loner.

Moving over to the lone zebra, Marty soon discovered it to be a female, "you alright here by yourself."

"Mm," the other zebra said, looking, then turning away shyly, "oh, yes I'm fine, thanks."

"You sure," Marty asked, not quite convinced, "only I saw you here all on your own..."

"I haven't been here long," the other zebra replied, "and well, you might have figured out I'm not the most confident..."

"Hey, I'm new here myself," Marty said, "name's Marty by the way."

"Hannah," the other zebra replied.

"D'you have any idea where we are," Marty asked, not sure in himself if he actually wanted to know, or if he was just trying to make conversation.

"I'm not sure," Hannah replied, "I uh, I haven't asked, but I think one of the others mentioned Taranto, Turonto?"

"You mean Toronto," Marty asked.

"Something like that," Hannah replied, "I'd never heard of it before anyway."

"Well that'd explain the temperature at least," Marty said, shivering again for a moment, "So where're you from?"

"London Zoo," Hannah replied, "I don't suppose you've heard of it?"

"London, London," Marty said thoughtfully, "no, I don't think I've, wait, isn't that a city in what, Broton, Bretin?"

"Britain," Hannah replied, "you've heard of it?"

"Only once or twice," Marty admitted, "where I grew up wasn't very big, so my grasp of, um, geography isn't brilliant."

"It's good enough for me," Hannah said, her eyes beginning to tear and her voice choking up, "just the fact that you've heard of it is, its..."

"Hey, hey is everything alright," Marty asked, moving in closer.

"I-I'm sorry," Hannah managed to stutter, "I just get a bit emotional sometimes."

"So now what," Mwenzi asked when he and Chokoza were together again in what the female presumed was their new den.

"Why're you asking me," Chokoza asked, "I don't know any more than you do."

"But you're br..." Mwenzi began, but was cut off by a rumble emanating from the hole in the cave wall they hadn't come in through. Approaching the hole together, the hyenas saw that the barrier that had once been there was gone, and so moved until they could see the whole way out, though it still didn't give a great view, a rock, a few trees, a bit of sky, and what looked to be a cliff of some sort.

And then the two hyenas could see even less as another hyena poked his head around the corner and said, "oh, hello there," mildly surprising both of them.

Mwenzi was the first to recover, "who the hell are you?"

"Name's Kenjala, friend," the hyena replied, "and you?"

"Why d'you wa-," Mwenzi began, then stopped as Chokoza hit him, "-ow, what was that for?"

"Being an idiot," Chokoza replied absent-mindedly, then rose and approached the newcomer, "sorry, I didn't catch what your name was."

"My names Kenjala," the newcomer replied, "although most of the others shorten it to Kenj or Ken, personally I prefer Kenj."

"Less of a mouthful at least," Chokoza said, "my name's Chokoza by the way, and my idiot brother is Mwenzi."

"Um, nice to meet you," Kenjala said, and leaned around Chokoza to give Mwenzi a disarming smile, but pulled back quickly at the male's frown, "so, where did you come from?"

"Is that important," Chokoza asked.

"Well, not as such, no," Kenjala replied a little taken aback, "I just though it'd seem, you know, friendly."

"Cheeky's more the word you're looking for I think," Chokoza replied, though she let her muzzle crease into a faint smile, "you know that sort of thing is going to get you into trouble one day right, being too, forward?"

"What d'you mean 'going to'," Kenjala replied with a wry smile, "It's got me into enough trouble already."

"And yet you're still doing it," Chokoza said.

"Eh, what can I say," Kenjala shrugged, "I'm just naturally friendly and outgoing."

"Yes, I think I realised that," Chokoza said, struggling hard to control her smile. It surprised her that she was feeling so relaxed around Kenjala, she normally felt either aggressive or suspicious. Maybe it was his attitude, she thought, he was quite bold but also quite friendly, a combination that was vanishingly rare where she came from.

The happy state of affairs wasn't to last much longer though, for a few moments later a voice outside said, "Kenjala, what are you doing over here?"

Chokoza watched Kenjala's friendly expression drop as he turned to someone out of her sight line, and said, "I, I was just saying hello to th..."

"We have new arrivals," the other hyena asked, "you know you're supposed to come and tell us first."

"Yes, I know," Kenjala said, "I'm sorry, I forgot..."

"Did you," the other hyena asked aggressively, "well maybe the matriarch can do something about that 'forgetfulness'."

Chokoza didn't like the sound of this very much, and so she pushed past Kenjala to confront the other hyena, "hey, what gives you the right to bully him."

"He stepped out of line," the other hyena replied, "thus he requires discipline."

"Oh he stepped out of line did he, Chokoza said, falsely cheery, then stepped forward, "well allow me to correct that 'line' for you."

"No," Kenjala said quietly, "no, you-you don't want to get involved."

Chokoza glanced at the seemingly crushed Kenjala for a moment before she turned back to the other hyena, "oh but I think I do." She stepped forward till she was almost nose-to-nose with the other hyena, and said, "okay sunshine, you go and tell your 'matriarch' that if she wants to bully him she has to get through me, understood?"

The other hyena tried to outstare Chokoza, but gave up after a few moments and turned away, "the matriarch will not be pleased."

"I can live with that," Chokoza said, "now get out."

As the other hyena left, Kenjala turned to Chokoza and said, "I'm sorry, I think I just got you into a lot of trouble."

"'You' got me into trouble," Chokoza asked, "who was it challenged her, you or me?"

"Well, you," Kenjala admitted, "but..."

"Yeah, me," Chokoza said, "now come on, let's get out of this cold."


	23. Family connections

I don't own any of the characters apart from Amili (Swahili for 'guide'), Majana (Swahili for 'child), Chopoka (Swahili for 'stolen') and Chongo (Swahili for '').

The moment he stepped outside Melman felt his skin twitch with the cold. Ignoring this, he cast an inquiring eye over the enclosure. It was large, a lot larger than he'd imagined, and seemed quite sparsely inhabited for its size, with the other inhabitants standing around in groups of two and three. There were a few trees spread around inside the fence, but that seemed to be about it as far as scenery went. Behind him, he could hear Amili's teeth clicking together, and he asked, "is it too cold for you?"

"No I can handle it," Amili replied, "it's just somewhat colder than what I'm used to."

"Yes it is rather chilly isn't it," Melman said, "you'll-we'll acclimatise eventually though."

"Mm-hm," Amili said, not sure what acclimatised meant, then turned her mind to other matters, "it's a lot bigger than you led me to believe."

"It wasn't actually this place I was talking about," Melman said, "that was my old enclosure back in Central Park Zoo." He thought a moment, then added, "but I have to say, this is bigger than I ever expected an enclosure to be."

They stood around for a moment, then Amili asked, "well, aren't we going over to introduce ourselves?"

"Well if I were on my own, I'd already be on my way," Melman replied, "I just wasn't sure what you wanted to do."

"Oh," said Amili, "well that was nice of you, but since I do want to go and get introduced..."

"Let's go then shall we," Melman said, then indicated an individual nearby who appeared to be alone.

"Yes, let's," Amili replied, and they began to make their way over.

As they approached the lone giraffe, which turned out to be a fairly elderly female, she turned, examined them, and said "oh, hello, you're new here aren't you?"

"Yes we are," Melman said, "and, um, do you happen to know 'where' we are?"

"Toronto Zoo or so I've been told," the elderly female replied.

"Well that would explain the temperature at least," Melman said, "oh, I'm Melman by the way, and this is Amili."

"Pleased to meet you," the female said, "I'm Chopoka."

"Chopoka," Melman asked, surprised, then slowly asked, "tell me, were you ever at the Bronx Zoo in New York?"

"Why yes I was, a few years back," Chopoka replied, "but how on earth did you guess that?"

"I was born there," Melman replied, "I was born there."

"Really," Chopoka asked, "well that's interesting, because I never remember anyone there being called Melman."

"Well I suppose I wasn't actually called Melman in those days," he replied, "it was the name the humans gave me, no, my real name if you could call it that, was...Chungo, Chango?"

"Chongo," Chopoka replied, tears glistening in her her eyes, "I called my son Chongo." Suddenly, though for Melman not quite unexpectedly, she necked him, gently, and murmured "I never thought I'd see you again my son."

"Nor did I mum," Melman replied, crying himself now, "nor did I."

Amili was stunned, both by the apparent connection had suddenly been made, and by the name itself, which had shocked her almost as much as it had Melman. Waiting until the others had finished their embrace, she turned to Chopoka and asked, did, did you ever know a male called Najiri?"

"Najiri," Chopoka said thoughtfully, "I, may have done once, why, is the name important to you?"

"Yes, very," Amili said, "could you try to recall please, it would mean a lot to me."

"Well I can't imagine why it would be important," Chopoka said, "but since you asked so nicely, "yes I will."

"Thank you," Amili said, "thank you very much."

Melman watched his mother going back through her memories, and whispered to Amili, "why d'you want to know if she knows your father?"

"Because Chopoka was my mother's name as well as yours," Amili replied.

"Wait a minute," Melman said, "I know she's my mother, but if she's your mother as well..."

"Then that would make us siblings wouldn't it," Amili replied, "or half-siblings at least."

"Well that would have to be the biggest coincidence in the world wouldn't it," Melman said, "you know, I don't think you ever told me Chopoka was your mother's name."

"Yes, well just hearing it brings my father out in tears," Amili said, "and besides, you never mentioned it was your mother's name either."

"I-it wasn't a time I remember with great clarity," Melman said, "in fact, I probably wouldn't even have remembered the name until..." He stopped, as Chopoka seemed to return to the real world.

"Yes I did in fact know a male called Najiri," Chopoka replied, turning to Amili and smiling beatifically, "I knew him very well indeed, and I remember having a very lovely daughter as well." Repeating then gesture she'd used with Melman earlier, the elderly female wrapped her neck around her daughter's and said "and I called her Amili."

Melman was a lot less taken aback by this connection because of what Amili had told him, and simply stood back a little until his mother and sister had finished their embrace, then said, "well this has got to be just about the biggest coincidence that I've ever heard of."

"It certainly is a very large one," Chopoka said, "I never expected to see either of my children ever again." Suddenly though, she looked troubled, "were, were you together when you were captured?"

"Yes we were," Melman replied, "I'd been shipped to Africa for some reason or other, and managed, by freak coincidence, to meet up with Amili and Najiri."

"So where is he then," Chopoka asked.

"He, uh, he wasn't with us when we were captured," Amili replied.

"Oh," Chopoka said, "oh dear, he won't take that well I shouldn't think."

"No, I very much doubt he will," Alimi said, "he was almost inconsolable when he lost you, so losing me as well..."

"There, is just one other thing I'd like to know," Melman said, trying to distract the two females from their woes, for a moment at least.

"Yes, my son," Chopoka said in a dull voice.

"Do, do you know who my father is," Melman asked, "I mean, I suppose it's not important overall, but I would like to know."

"He is your father as well," Chopoka replied, almost instantly, "I had not long let him know I was pregnant again when I was snatched."

"Oh," Melman said, "well I guess that will make the reunion all the more pleasing for him."

"Reunion, what reunion are you referring to my son," Chopoka asked.

"The reunion we have with Najiri when we finally get out of here," Melman replied.

"I'm afraid, my son, that you have a forlorn hope," Chopoka said, "for I have little faith in us ever getting out of here again."


End file.
